> Health &
Nutrition
Perhaps the most
frequent question I am asked concerning turtles and tortoises is
how much and how often to feed them. Turtles that are overfed can
become obese, just as other animals (and people) can. Although no
definitive studies have been done on the health consequences of
obesity in chelonians, I feel that it is best to err on the side
of caution. Turtles are trapped in their shells - too much excess
flesh could compress and injure internal organs. A decreased
lifespan or chronic health problems may also be consequences of
obesity.
With aquatic turtles, obesity can be detected by simply looking at
the turtle. If you startle the turtle, causing it to withdraw its
head, do the back legs shoot out? When the turtle sits on its
basking area, do billows of flesh spill out around the turtle's
legs? If so, then the turtle is probably too fat. Hatchlings and
juveniles can also be fed too much. Rather than becoming obese,
juvenile turtles divert the excess food into increased growth,
which might lead to problems such as shell deformities or a
decreased life span.
My wife and I err on the side of caution in feeding. Within a few
months of hatching, we put our turtles on an every-other-day
feeding schedule. We feed our aquatic turtles in separate
containers, in order to monitor how much food each animal is
eating. Each turtle receives as much food as it can eat in a few
minutes. One rule of thumb is to feed the turtle as much food as
would fit in its head and neck. The only time we provide more food
or feed more often is when a turtle is sick or noticeably
underweight. At that point, a more frequent feeding schedule is
desired, to help the turtle in its recovery.
An alternate-day feeding schedule, especially on hatchlings, might
seem to be rather limiting. However, keep in mind the normal
environments of most turtles. They are not fed top-quality food
every day (or even more often than that!) in the wild. They grow
slowly but steadily, except those species that hibernate or
estivate. I have heard cases of turtles that have grown quickly
enough to breed after only a couple of years, when the same
species in the wild takes over a decade to reach breeding size. I
feel that such rapid growth is often one of the primary reasons
for shell deformities ("pyramiding"), in addition to the
potential for long-term health consequences.
Exactly what to feed a particular species of turtle or tortoise is
beyond the scope of this article. Investigate the natural history
and diet of the chelonian in question, and try and duplicate it if
possible. For many tortoises, this means a high-fiber, low protein
diet of mainly grasses with occasional vegetables and fruits. For
semi-aquatic turtles, a combination of vegetables and insects
would be appropriate, while for land turtles, an omnivorous diet
of vegetables, fruits, insects, earthworms and other invertebrates
should be provided. Having said that, we deviate from that
naturalistic diet for some of our animals - our semi-aquatic
turtles are fed mainly Tetra's ReptoMin and Wardley's Reptile Ten.
When fed in moderation, we have raised hatchlings of many species
to adulthood with no health problems on "foodsticks"
supplemented with the occasional treat of insects, earthworms, or
fruit.
Turtles that are noticeably obese should be placed on a
reduced-food diet. Often, this diet is harder on the owner than
the turtle. Turtles, just like other animals, can be trained. Many
of them, for example, have been trained to associate
"begging" behaviour with the arrival of food, and will
beg whenever they get the chance. While this behaviour is
endearing, giving in to it may be exactly the wrong thing to do.
In addition to reducing the amount of food and the number of
feeding times, the total captive environment should be evaluated.
One common contributing factor is the size of the cage. Turtles
that are kept in too small an area do not get the exercise that
they need to burn off the food that they consume. All types of
turtles and tortoises should be provided with areas that are big
enough - we try and keep indoor turtles in areas that are three to
five times wider than the turtle is long, and twice that ratio in
length. When in doubt, remember that bigger is always better for
turtle enclosures but not for turtle feedings!
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