Feeding

[rosshan]

Hi, im finally picking up my 18 month old horsefield on sunday

And i realised im not sure how much food to give is at a time and how often.

What do you suggest for such a young tort?

Thanks

[Kirkie]

Hello,

I have young Horsfields and I feed them once a day about as much as they can clear in 15 minutes. Opinions do vary on this though, another rough guide is to feed them an amount that would cover their shell if placed on it. So if your tortoise is the size of a £2 coin, feed an amount that would cover a £2 coin and so on. I also scatter a few leaves round the enclosure to give them something to forage for.

Best thing to do with a young tortoise is to weigh and records its weight regularly. You should see a steady increase in weight over a few months, a few grams a month is fine at this age. If you see a big increase across several weigh ins (and the weight can vary quite dramitically depending if the tortoise has drunk a lot, had a poo etc) you can cut back the amounts of food offered, if there is little or no increase, up the feeds slightly. Bear in mind that at this time of year Horsfields have a tendency to slow down, not be as active and eat less so you need to keep good temperatures day and night (32-34 under the basking spot during the day with a gradient to a cool end of about 20-22, and try to keep the overnight temperature above 16 degrees).

Other thing to bear in mind are Horsfields are little eating machines so overfeeding is easily done, dont give in to them!