Underweight Hermann?

[Squirtlethehermanns]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this, so bare with me!!

I got my little baby, Squirtle, nearly 2 months ago now. She's a Hermanns tortoise. She eats well, and eats a fair amount, she has the perfect basking area with a mercury vapour combined lamp, she has a 4ft table so she has huge amounts of room. I've done a lot of research and I look after her really well!!

The problem I have is her size. When I picked her she was the littlest one left that my breeder had, and I thought she was adorable!! Now she's 6 months old, and she's still pretty small, although she has grown huge amounts since I got her. Her plastron is quite wrinkled still, and I got her checked as I was worried incase it was a serious health issue, and the vet said she'd simply not grown in to her shell yet, and her plastron will eventually smooth out.

I weighed her today and compared her to the Jackson ratio scale for hatchlings (for tortoises 6 months old and younger) and she ranks as underweight, by what seems like a considerable amount. She measures 6cm long, and 33g in weight.

As I've explained, she eats well, gets all nutrition she needs including UV light and vitamin D and calcium, she's grown a lot in the last 2 months - but in regards to the scale, she's underweight by fair amount.

If anyone could help shed some light with their experiences with Hermanns, and help me with figuring out if she is underweight or not, or whether she's ok and she's just small. And if there is a problem, any suggestions would be most welcome!!

Sorry for the hugeeeee post, but I thought it was best to be as thorough as possible. Thanks for reading Oh, and this is Squirtle:

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum! What a cute little tort. GOD bless.

Don't worry. You'll get the help you need here. In the meantime, please read the "Beginners Mistake" Thread and different care sheets.

 

[DutchieAmanda]

Hi, I think you posted your question twice... I replied in the other thread.

 

[THBfriend]

Her plastron is quite wrinkled still, and I got her checked as I was worried incase it was a serious health issue, and the vet said she'd simply not grown in to her shell yet, and her plastron will eventually smooth out.

I weighed her today and compared her to the Jackson ratio scale for hatchlings (for tortoises 6 months old and younger) and she ranks as underweight, by what seems like a considerable amount. She measures 6cm long, and 33g in weight.

Maybe you could show us a photo of the plastron?
And tell us your source for those Jackson ratio values?
Also, what's the diet like, what do you feed Squirtle?

In my experience, 33g is absolutely not underweight for a 6 months old Eastern Hermann's tortoise. Mine are usually even a few grams lighter at that age - but they do get to hibernating from the start. Here's an example weight chart from one of my clutches.

 

[HermanniChris]

Definitely post a photo of the tortoise's plastron because based on what I am seeing here, your tortoise may be a Dalmatian Hermann's (T. h. hercegovinensis), if this is the case, the Jackson Ratio will not work as it only targets T. h. boettgeri and not the other two subspecies of Hermann's tortoise.