Horsfield over eating question

[Cre]

When my tortoise is inside I can give him the correct amount of food. Having made him an outdoor enclosue and planted and grown weeds for him how am I supposed to regulate the amount he eats when hes in there? Yesterday he scoffed all the leaves on a newly planted plantain plant, polished off some dandilion leaves then started on clover and grass! Is this normal and will he over eat?

[suttysue]

Horsfields are notorious likke piggies, I personaly would'nt worry, when mine are outdoors they just eat what they want.
I do weigh mine every week just to keep an eye on them.
Whats more natural for them, you have enriched their lives by allowing them to decide how much & when & they even have to find it themselves. Thats great!!! in my oppinion just like in the wild & no-one follows them around say No!! do they.
Sue

[jamestaylor18]

Horsefields are known for being greedy little buggers! In the wild they only feed for 6 months of the year so i think even captive bred are programmed to scoff all they can when they can! As long as its a weed based diet i dont see too much of a problem. Have you checked your torts length & height on a ratio? Cant remember the name of the ratio tho! Its not the jackson ratio its another one!

[Cre]

Yep, Its the McIntire Ratio, at the moment Alfred weighs 199g and is 9cm long so is a teeny bit over average.
When I got him In November he only weighed 135g and was 8cm long. It sounds like he had piled loads of weight on but probably hasn't because the 1st time I weighed him was after a period of him refusing to eat.
As I write this he is sitting in he food bowl looking at me lol.

[jamestaylor18]

Mcintyre thats the one! There was a poll done on here for horsefields weight/height which lead to a graph/ratio being drawn by someone. It was really good, not sure how to find it tho? sorry!

My two horsefields always sit in the bowel and look hungry. You just have to learn to ignore the hungry looks! They aint hungry, just greedy!

[EJ]

Understand that the McIntire Ratio is based on a mix of CB and WC captive raised animals. While it probably is not too bad as a very general guide it is not something that should be adhered to.

The best advice... don't worry about growth rate unless the tortoise is light and weak or heavy and deformed.

All tortoises are going to grow at different rates.

Originally Posted by Cre

Yep, Its the McIntire Ratio, at the moment Alfred weighs 199g and is 9cm long so is a teeny bit over average.
When I got him In November he only weighed 135g and was 8cm long. It sounds like he had piled loads of weight on but probably hasn't because the 1st time I weighed him was after a period of him refusing to eat.
As I write this he is sitting in he food bowl looking at me lol.