Our tortoise had a checkup before we put her into the fridge this year and the vet said she was overweight. What? "No," I said. "Look at those beautiful fat pads on her rear legs; that's how she's supposed to look."
The vet said she had a duty to tell me and left it at that. Addy is big, over three pounds, but her weight has been steady for almost three years, she's only gained a hundred grams in that time. She's also been to our vet more than once during that time; no other vet ever said she was fat. She's active in our yard. I couldn't get a great picture but her back legs do look a little pudgy when she's laying/sitting down. I understand one of the measures for weight is whether a tortoise can pull their legs entirely into the shell. Unfortunately this tortoise isn't afraid of us enough to snap in! I think she was pretty drawn up during estivation but didn't think to really check on it until after she came out this year.
My question isn't entirely that she's fat, it's how she could be fat when she is moving all the time? We do feed her some but that's because she'll destroy the yard if we don't put something out there. She doesn't eat like a pig the way she did for the first years we had her; I wondered how she didn't explode some days.
How would I get her to lose weight when she can and does free feed in our yard?
Addy at 1,440 grams; 7 1/8 inches long; 5 3/4 inches wide. Not the best picture; she was insistent on trying to get up that door sill and wouldn't walk any other direction. She's letting it all hang out here; this is not how she looks when she's walking!
The vet said she had a duty to tell me and left it at that. Addy is big, over three pounds, but her weight has been steady for almost three years, she's only gained a hundred grams in that time. She's also been to our vet more than once during that time; no other vet ever said she was fat. She's active in our yard. I couldn't get a great picture but her back legs do look a little pudgy when she's laying/sitting down. I understand one of the measures for weight is whether a tortoise can pull their legs entirely into the shell. Unfortunately this tortoise isn't afraid of us enough to snap in! I think she was pretty drawn up during estivation but didn't think to really check on it until after she came out this year.
My question isn't entirely that she's fat, it's how she could be fat when she is moving all the time? We do feed her some but that's because she'll destroy the yard if we don't put something out there. She doesn't eat like a pig the way she did for the first years we had her; I wondered how she didn't explode some days.
How would I get her to lose weight when she can and does free feed in our yard?
Addy at 1,440 grams; 7 1/8 inches long; 5 3/4 inches wide. Not the best picture; she was insistent on trying to get up that door sill and wouldn't walk any other direction. She's letting it all hang out here; this is not how she looks when she's walking!