Tortoise Growth

by Susan Elizabeth
(United Kingdom)

I have a 7 year old Russion Horsfield Tortoise who I bought last August unfortunately I bought her from a pet shop before doing more research and she had internal parasites and had to have treatment from the vet. She got the all clear from the vet mid December but I did not put her into hibernation as I wanted her to be fully recovered and not take the risk of anything happening to her.


Anyway my question is since about March she has been stuffing her face with food and has got huge I am worried about her sudden growth rate and will this make her ill growing so big so quickly?

Also somedays she is very active and somedays like today she is staying in her make shift burrow and not coming out at all is this normal behavour? She lives indoors in a large tortoise table filled with sand and soil and she has a UV reptile light.

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Apr 20, 2009
 Feeding schedule
by: Anonymous

I also have a female Russian Tortoise who loves to eat and who has been growing very quickly. I have read that if they grow too fast, it can be hard on their internal organs and can also result in shell deformities. The Russian Tortoise website ( www.russiantortoise.org ) recommends letting them eat all they can for just 20 minutes each day and then removing the food. Mine seems to be doing well with that schedule right now. Mine also has some days when she just wants to spend the entire day in a burrow and some days when she's more active. I think it has to do with changes in weather and things like that, and my understanding is that it's normal.

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