How much food do people give their tortoises!? Our 2 little ones seem to be constantly hungry. They have a bowl of Watercress or Rocket first thing in the morning, then by the evening they appear to be hungry again.. So we give them another smaller bowl & they eat the lot!

Any advice would be great!

Very young "med" tortoises should be gaining around 1-2grams a month. If they grow too quickly their bones and shell won't have time to form properly. MBD (metabolic Bone disease) is quite common in captive tortoises through over-feeding and lack of UVB and calcium. Each tortoise should consume roughly about as much as covers the shell in one day.

Species specific care sheets can be found here:-

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/80.asp

HTH
Darren

Hi
It is very hard as you feel like you are being cruel by not feeding them much, but actually you are being very kind. I always weigh my little one and keep her weights within a certain range so if it creeps up, then I give less or only feed 6 days out of 7, if they are low then I let her have her 7 days back again. It is not easy when they are small trying to keep that slow shell growth, it is alot about getting to know your tortoise which only happens over time. Not very helpful I know but Darren has set you on the right path, just wanted to offer you some support that you are not alone, we have and still have all so much to learn about little shelled friends, but such fun learning
Jane

Hi Jane,

Thank you for replying! We only got ours last month, so we are learning quickly! We thought they were around 3/4 years old, but after showing a few people pictures, it appears they could be younger! In a month they have put on 2-3gs each, which I think is ok? Might try the 6 out of 7 trick, see how that goes! Feel bad when I can hear them banging around with no food in their bowl!! Such interesting creatures, would be lost without the little guys now :)