Regarding tortoise weight

[TortyTom]

Forgive me for posting this here but I figured folks could run across this with all kinds of torts? I have a 3 year old sulcata that is 16'' long and weighs 18.6 pounds as of almost two weeks ago. I read a LOT of different tort pages and see people saying things like my Sulcata is 14'' long and 25 pounds or 17'' long and 40 pounds? I know they all grow at different rates but how could the size to weight ratio be that much different??? Could this just be people fudging the numbers to impress or the result of a bad scale? Just wondering?????

 

[Jodie]

How are you measuring him? My leopard is 15 inches and 20lbs.

 

[JoesMum]

Ignore the "should be" as every single tort grows at a different rate depending on where it lives and what it eats.

Make sure you are measuring your tortoise correctly. These sites show yow how (ignore everything else on them apart from the method of measurement as the rest does not apply to you)
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/measuring.htm
http://www.tlady.clara.net/measure.htm
http://russiantortoise.org/measure.htm

If you have concerns about your tort, please do post pictures of it and its enclosure (we love pics anyway!) So we can see if there's anything else we can suggest. Also tell us what you feed your tort and how often

 

[TortyTom]

Ignore the "should be" as every single tort grows at a different rate depending on where it lives and what it eats.

Make sure you are measuring your tortoise correctly. These sites show yow how (ignore everything else on them apart from the method of measurement as the rest does not apply to you)
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/measuring.htm
http://www.tlady.clara.net/measure.htm
http://russiantortoise.org/measure.htm

If you have concerns about your tort, please do post pictures of it and its enclosure (we love pics anyway!) So we can see if there's anything else we can suggest. Also tell us what you feed your tort and how often

I measure my Darwin the correct way. She has grown up on this forum and most people are familiar with her. I use a digital scale that says 10 lbs when I put a 10 lb dumbbell on it. So I believe mine is correct. In fact I just did it again to be sure and she is 16 inches long and now she is 19.2 pounds. This pic is only 3 days old. I raised her according to everything Tom told me to do. I just do NOT believe a 17'' sulcata can be 40 pounds. That does not sound right to me?????

 

[TortyTom]

How are you measuring him? My leopard is 15 inches and 20lbs.

Leopards have a High dome so I can kinda see it being that weight. But a 14'' 25 lb sulcata,,,,, no way!

 

[Tom]

The weights you mention do seem a bit high to me too. I have a 22" female that is around 50 pounds. And my 20-21" ones are around 38 pounds, last I weighed them. I haven't weighed my 12-16" ones for a while. I can try to weigh them tomorrow.