Tortoise feeding schedule

Question
hi

what is the proper feeding schedule for red footed? is it ok to feed it once a day with of which the amount is what it can consume in 20min?

Answer
I prefer the 'serving size equal to one or two times the size of the head' and 'feed babies daily, young every other day, adults every three days' rule of thumb.

I leave food in until it starts to go bad or attracts flies- fruits go early, left-over dry forage gets tossed at next feeding.

The 20 minute rule is OK, but can lead to overfeeding and trains the tort to eat 'dessert' first. My modification of the rule would be to remove all soft and wet foods, but leave the dryer stuff... but I still prefer my methods.

Some experts and many zoos recommend an 'up and down' schedule. Determine a 'baseline' meal- usually what it will eat in a couple hours. Then you offer adults this amount once a week, followed by a varying schedule of several 'light' days, a fast day or two, and heavy days. I find this to be more annoying than my preferred schedule.

Remember- the goal is to offer a balanced, nutritious diet without weight gain or other health effects. The schedule is not as important as the result.