# How much should my Desert Tortoise Weigh?



## JohnnyB65 (Sep 29, 2014)

I’ve been seeing a lot of news videos lately of really huge Tortoises being stolen. In the news report below, they say a 7 year old weighs 60 lbs. and this is not the only one I’ve seen. 
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/c...293581.html?_osource=outbrain_recirc=obinsite
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/c...293581.html?_osource=outbrain_recirc=obinsite

My tortoise is over 8 years old and probably only weighs 10 to 15 lbs. So am I feeding him enough or what’s the deal? I give him all he can eat with a variety of vegetables and grass trying to get him to grow. Someone told me they will only grow as big as their habitat and that’s why I’ve opened up the whole yard to him and built him a larger burrow.

I haven't weighed him yet, but I will today if he comes out later


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## TigsMom (Oct 1, 2014)

If you have a California or Arizona Desert Tortoise, then yours are a good weight. The majority of tortoises being stolen are Sulcatas who grow to 150 to 200 lbs.


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## JohnnyB65 (Oct 1, 2014)

Thanks, the more I thought about it after I posted this, I figured there must have been some sort of mistake.


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## Arnold_rules (Oct 3, 2014)

Yes, based on the picture accompaning the story, it is an african desert tortoise (sulcata).


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## JohnnyB65 (Oct 3, 2014)

Arnold_rules said:


> Yes, based on the picture accompaning the story, it is an african desert tortoise (sulcata).


Thanks, I'm not knowledgeable about species and I could only go by what they called it in the news story.


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## Arnold_rules (Oct 4, 2014)

JohnnyB65 said:


> Thanks, I'm not knowledgeable about species and I could only go by what they called it in the news story.


 I know, it is confusing when they call it a desert tortoise, which technically it is, but not what the US knows as a desert tortoise.


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## JohnnyB65 (Oct 4, 2014)

Arnold_rules said:


> I know, it is confusing when they call it a desert tortoise, which technically it is, but not what the US knows as a desert tortoise.


Thanks you for clearing that up, I've seen a number of news reports all calling them a desert tortoise and all were very large. I've seen desert tortoises in the wild around the Mohave Desert for 20 years and I've never seen one that large, but I'm not an expert.
I did see a pretty good size one once many years ago dead at a school bus stop in the desert that I believe was killed by kids because there were rocks and sticks in it. It wasn't anywhere near the size of the monsters in the news, but the largest I've ever seen. There was a water hydrant for people to get water and the tortoise may have been there for the leaking water. It was pretty sad to say the least.


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## ascott (Oct 4, 2014)

http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/2011/06/28/monster-desert-tortoise/

Here is a biggie....not usual but fun just the same....


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## JohnnyB65 (Oct 5, 2014)

ascott said:


> http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/2011/06/28/monster-desert-tortoise/
> 
> Here is a biggie....not usual but fun just the same....


The sad part of that story was the fact that tortoises being left behind in abandoned and foreclosed homes. I think about that all the time with my own tortoise and wonder what would happen if my wife and I were killed in an auto accident or something. If it were to happen while the tort was in hibernation, the house could go up for sale without anybody knowing. I don’t think my kids would even think about it immediately afterward, but I hope so.


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