Red footed tortoise growth

Question
I have a baby red foot and I think he might be growing too fast.  What could be the cause of this?  I usually feed him 5-6 times a week with a mix of greens, veggies, fruits and occasionally lean protein.  I calcium supplement about twice a week.

Answer
Proper growth should be about an inch a year- a bit faster with young'uns. The problem is that it is SO easy to over-feed a young Red-foot. The amount of food they need in a day would balance on a quarter. It is hard for us big, fast-metabolism mammals to understand that a small, slow-metabolism reptile can live on that small amount, but they do.

Another way to look at it is that he only needs about 30 calories a day at this age.

Personally, I would recommend making up a mini-salad (about the size of his head) with some high-quality greens, and a bit of fruit or veggies. After he eats it, let him graze on some low-nutrient head lettuce for a while. You can offer plenty of variety by offering a different sort of mini-salad the next day.

Check out http://www.turtletary.com for some advice for babies that works for many people, and http://www.tortoiseforum.org for a place to talk to a lot of enthusiasts about tortoises.