Stinky RT

Question
Hello Mark! I recently got a russian totoise and it seems very healthy and
active. One thing though - the enclosure where I keep him (4x2x2ft) seems
to get super stinky the very next day I clean it. I tried to use a coconut bark as
a substrate, yesterday I put a reptile absorbent carpet, and its already smelly,
though i removed all visible poop.... probably tomorrow i'll try cypress
bedding.Could it be that I overfeed him? He gets collard greens, carrots,
organic spring mix, squash every day -amount - about 2 cups, he has a
mineral stone that he chewes on for calcium. He gets soaks almost every day,
UVA/UVB lamp is on 14 hr/day.Temperature in basking spot is 100F, overall
in cage 80F. He is about 5 inches long. Any ideas what I can do to decrease
his smell?
.

Answer
2 cups? I give my herd of 5 Red-foot tortoises about a cup of food to share most days and skip a day or two a week. Tortoises need an amazingly small amount of food- about 1/2 of the calories a mammal of that size would need.

The formula is "weight in kilograms to the 0.75th power, times 32" for the daily calorie needs- so a 1lb/500gram tortoise would only need about 16 calories a day- that is less than 2 ounces of collard greens.

Another way to look at it is that its stomach is only about as big as its head, so a daily portion, all squished together, is only that big- about a big tablespoon full.

Yet another way to determine it is to remove uneaten food after about 15 minutes- but I prefer several small feedings over the day when I can.

You also may want to look at the diets recommended at http://www.tortoisetrust.org and http://www.russiantortoise.org for diet ideas- yours is a bit 'wet' and lacks fiber- which adds to the smell.