Underweight Leopard Tortoise?

JoesMum

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ngv123897

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You don’t have to provide food overnight. Most tortoises turn in fairly early... mine was rarely around after 4pm... but leaving a good feed first thing in the morning is good.

They can be extremely pick, but will eat less fresh stuff if hungry so don’t go wasting food. Put out fresh each morning, but don’t keep replacing it through the day just to leave fresh out. It is important that your tortoise doesn’t end up training you!

Some people use compact UVB without a problem, but many do have problems and that’s why we don’t recommend them. They are always prime suspect in cases when tortoises hide away or get eye problems. You can prove if yours is causing a problem simply by turning it off and leaving it switched off for 3 or 4 days. Your tortoise won’t come to any harm for such a short amount of time. If your tortoise’s behaviour improves then you know the UVB is probably the cause and you must change the type of UVB that you use.

Don’t switch off the basking lamp though. That must be on for at least 12 hours every day.

Alright I'll try leaving the food out for longer.. it's just that the food attracts bugs and it's kind of gross but oh well. My tortoise doesn't really hide away and doesn't seem to have eye problems so I don't know if anything would really change if I turned it off but I'll do it anyways just to be safe :)
 

ngv123897

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And don’t be embarrassed about your age either! Many of our members are juniors. It really helps if we have a more accurate idea of the age of non-adults as we can gear our answers around that.

@TechnoCheese is one of our many youngsters although you would never guess from her posts :)

Ah alright if it could help my tortoise. I'm a few months over 13 o_O
 

ngv123897

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Hi everyone just an update. I weighed her yesterday which was 2 days after the first time I weighed her. The first time I weighed her she weighed 77.9g.. and now.. she weighs 83.6g!! I'm glad she's gaining weight now so thanks for your suggestions :D
 

JoesMum

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Hi everyone just an update. I weighed her yesterday which was 2 days after the first time I weighed her. The first time I weighed her she weighed 77.9g.. and now.. she weighs 83.6g!! I'm glad she's gaining weight now so thanks for your suggestions :D

Excellent news.

For consistency, make sure you weigh at roughly the same time of day each time you do it. A tort’s weight varies through the day just like yours does.

I suggest you do it straight after a morning soak... and don’t do it any more often than once a week. Don’t forget that, at that size, a poop or a pee can make a massive difference to weight, so don’t get disheartened if weight decreases periodically.
 

ngv123897

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Excellent news.

For consistency, make sure you weigh at roughly the same time of day each time you do it. A tort’s weight varies through the day just like yours does.

I suggest you do it straight after a morning soak... and don’t do it any more often than once a week. Don’t forget that, at that size, a poop or a pee can make a massive difference to weight, so don’t get disheartened if weight decreases periodically.

Good to know that their weight can change so much just from a pee or poo... I was a little worried on the second day of weighing because she suddenly lost weight :eek: but right before I weighed her she had a little accident on the ground so now I'm relieved :)
 

Mishelle

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My tortoise is a similar size to yours and about 100g, she is a horsfield but I think your tortoise looks healthy. I think 77g might be ok? 500-600g is much bigger. Years ago before the internet, my dad used to check his torts by seeing if there was fat bulging when their legs were tucked inside the shell. But im not experienced with leopard tortoises, maybe there’s another size and weight chart you could find?
 

ngv123897

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My tortoise is a similar size to yours and about 100g, she is a horsfield but I think your tortoise looks healthy. I think 77g might be ok? 500-600g is much bigger. Years ago before the internet, my dad used to check his torts by seeing if there was fat bulging when their legs were tucked inside the shell. But im not experienced with leopard tortoises, maybe there’s another size and weight chart you could find?

okay, thanks! i'll look for a size to weight chart
 

JoesMum

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okay, thanks! i'll look for a size to weight chart

If there were a size:weight chart we considered reliable then we would be recommending it. There isn’t.

The only chart you will find is the Jackson Ratio which can only be used for Greeks and Hermanns weighing 500g or more...
 

ngv123897

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If there were a size:weight chart we considered reliable then we would be recommending it. There isn’t.

The only chart you will find is the Jackson Ratio which can only be used for Greeks and Hermanns weighing 500g or more...

Ah, I see. That's a shame. I'll just help her gain weight for the time being.. Is it true when you pick up your tortoise they should feel "dense"?
 

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If there were a size:weight chart we considered reliable then we would be recommending it. There isn’t.

The only chart you will find is the Jackson Ratio which can only be used for Greeks and Hermanns weighing 500g or more...

And the Donahue ratio ...?

Jamie
 

ngv123897

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Hi, I was just wondering if my tortoise could be stunted? I've looked back at pictures from last year and she hasn't grown at all and even if she did it isn't noticeable.. She's 9cm measuring directly on the carapace now and from memory when I measured her a few times last year she was around 8cm (I think).
 
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