Is my Sulcata overweight?

[selviester]

Hi all,

I always come to this forum for advice and here I am again.

I adopted a Sulcata in July 2018 and he was about 122 grams. We don’t know how old he was. I weigh him biweekly and as of today, he is 229 grams.

His biweekly weight gain is around 18-25 grams. Is this normal? I feed him daily 3x a day but with reasonable portion. I tried feeding him 2 times before but he ended up eating the sphagnum moss. After feeding him 3x he is fine. I only feed him greens. Mazuri pelet probably just 2 pieces and this would be once a week.

I am attaching his pictures. Please tell me if his weight gain is normal or if he is overweight? He is healthy and active though.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Bee62]

View attachment 254808 View attachment 254809 View attachment 254810 Hi all,

I always come to this forum for advice and here I am again.

I adopted a Sulcata in July 2018 and he was about 122 grams. We don’t know how old he was. I weigh him biweekly and as of today, he is 229 grams.

His biweekly weight gain is around 18-25 grams. Is this normal? I feed him daily 3x a day but with reasonable portion. I tried feeding him 2 times before but he ended up eating the sphagnum moss. After feeding him 3x he is fine. I only feed him greens. Mazuri pelet probably just 2 pieces and this would be once a week.

I am attaching his pictures. Please tell me if his weight gain is normal or if he is overweight? He is healthy and active though.

Many thanks in advance.

Your sully looks fine and is not overweight. At that age gaining 18 - 25 grams a week is good. Feed your growing tort as much as he wants. It`ll be okay.

 

[selviester]

Your sully looks fine and is not overweight. At that age gaining 18 - 25 grams a week is good. Feed your growing tort as much as he wants. It`ll be okay.

Oh thank you so much! I feel so relief now. Because all my friends think he gains way too fast. But he has good amount of walking exercise in the garden every morning. He poops and pee pee every day too... even at exact same time (morning poo and pee... night after dinner pee).
Thanks again

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Absolutely not overweight. Looks very healthy.

 

[Bee62]

Oh thank you so much! I feel so relief now. Because all my friends think he gains way too fast. But he has good amount of walking exercise in the garden every morning. He poops and pee pee every day too... even at exact same time (morning poo and pee... night after dinner pee).
Thanks again

I think your friends are not familiar with the growth of a sulcata tortoise.
Read here:
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/ever-wonder-how-fast-a-sulcata-can-grow.150013/

 

[selviester]

Absolutely not overweight. Looks very healthy.

Thanks so much

 

[selviester]

I think your friends are not familiar with the growth of a sulcata tortoise.
Read here:
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/ever-wonder-how-fast-a-sulcata-can-grow.150013/

Omg thanks for sending me this link! I guess no they are not familiar, Im so thankful for this forum!

 

[Bee62]

Omg thanks for sending me this link! I guess no they are not familiar, Im so thankful for this forum!

My pleasure

 

[Pearly]

You have a beautiful healthy looking, growing baby sully! I would never limit amount of food for growing baby. I always fed mine 2x day in first 2 yrs with portions big enough they would always leave some food at the end of each meal. Plus, with herbivorous tort if you feed them the correct diet which is loaded with fiber, I don’t think it’s possible to OVERfeed

 

[selviester]

You have a beautiful healthy looking, growing baby sully! I would never limit amount of food for growing baby. I always fed mine 2x day in first 2 yrs with portions big enough they would always leave some food at the end of each meal. Plus, with herbivorous tort if you feed them the correct diet which is loaded with fiber, I don’t think it’s possible to OVERfeed

Thanks so much! I am very relief and happy to hear this I just want him to grow healthy and happy.

 

[Tom]

He's not overweight, but there is not reasonable to feed him 3 times a day. Just put out one big pile of food in the morning and let him graze all day. There should not be moss in the enclosure. If he's tried to eat it once, he will try again, and it can cause impaction.

As he grows and eats larger and larger quantities of food, you will want to start finding grass or grass hay to add to the diet for more and more bulk.

 

[selviester]

He's not overweight, but there is not reasonable to feed him 3 times a day. Just put out one big pile of food in the morning and let him graze all day. There should not be moss in the enclosure. If he's tried to eat it once, he will try again, and it can cause impaction.

As he grows and eats larger and larger quantities of food, you will want to start finding grass or grass hay to add to the diet for more and more bulk.

Thank you Tom for the advice! Noted on the feeding and moss!