am i starving them?

[alicia]

hi everyone
Tinsel and Brandy are forever scaving food! if i walk in my room to check on them, they come running over thinking i have a big pile of weeds. are they really that hungry? ive weighed and measured them and they are spot on on the jacksons ratio. i feed them sort of every other day, or sometimes everyday but smaller amounts. they just always seem hungry!

thank you
alice

[joanna]

Hi Alice, with their weights being fine I wouldn't worry too much. You say they work out well with the jacksons ratio so as long as they haven't gone from being heavier, and therefore loosing weight I think all is fine.

[tartaruga amore]

alica, what do you mean by "sort of every other day"

i can only tell you how i feed my lot, others may have a different approach,
during the summer months, they get fed twice a day, as the days get shorter they only eat 1 meal a day
if food is a issue, all animals will get gready, all my animals are fed as much as they want to eat, i do not restrict them, and because they know that food is not a issue, that its always there if they want it, they eat only what they need
i have been feeding my torts this way for well over 20 years, none are bigger than they should be, apart from 2 rehomers that i took this year, and this was caused by feeding wrong foods, not from over eating

[Alan1]

I am along those lines too and sometimes they eat it all and sometimes they leave some

[Pussygalore]

my way as well, I also think that they learn that the food isn't going to dissapear so doesn't have to be eaten all at once, all of mine, including my last hatchling leave most of their food which is then removed, the outside ones often don't bother with it if they've been foraging. My dogs (when we had them ) always had dried food/biscuits on the floor and helped themselves, they were never greedy or wolfed it down because they knew it was always available.

[gazinbrid]

same here they get big pile at lunch and a bit more at tea if they ate all lunch, but they sometimes still have some lunch left day after. they just seem to go to eat when hungry. (hope this makes sense)

[alicia]

hi, thanks for replying

when i mean sort of every other day.
sometimes its once a day, sometimes its every other day, i try and vary it because i didnt want them getting fat!
they have only been inside for the past couple of weeks but the whole of the summer from may to sep they have been outside and when they go outside they dont stop eating!
i didnt want to overfeed because if i put a massive heap of food in everyday i am positive they would eat the lot, as you say, they dont know its always going to be there.
there growing well and always put on weight, but im not sure if i should feed more than i do? i put a handfull in their table every day/other day but when i put them outside i dont bother giving them extra, even though they would eat it.
do you think this sounds ok?

thank you
alice

[tartaruga amore]

alice, if they were my torts i would feed every day,
ok they may eat a little more for a short while, but they would settle once they knew they were not going to go short again,
you are creating restless animals, because food is always on their mind,
its really not a nice feeling to be hungry and unable to go find it for yourself

[paulo peach]

i feed mine every day. Usually a little more than once, so its fresher, and breaks the day up better for him rather than giving him a big pile at the start of the day that will decompose slightly as the day goes on.

Some days he troughs the lot down, some days he doesnt touch it at all.

this is totally normal according to the lovely vet lady i visited last week.

[terrypin]

hi Alice,stick with what suits you and so long as there is no weight loss they will be fine .ibera are good eaters like hermans so when they are indoors you need to be careful how much and particularly what they they eat.during the winter bulk up whatever weeds are available with well chopped grass and plantain so they keep active and feeding.mine normally spread their food all over the place when they first attack it then spent most of the day hunting around for little pieces of grass and plantain they have missed.also as im sure you know now they are indoors you must keep them well hydrated as it can get very dry under their heatlamps.
terry