My New Adult Redfoot is as Light as a Feather

[shellysmom]

My new girl Daisy is 11" long and as light as a feather. Her previous owner fed her Mazuri Tortoise Chow and ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Diet, so at this time that's pretty much all I can get her to eat. On the bag, it says to feed her 1-4% of her body weight a day, but I'm assuming they mean 1-4% of what she's supposed to weigh, and I have no idea how much that is. Care sheets on these guys love to list sizes, but I can't find any that list a typical weight for one that's 11"

Can anyone tell me? I have no idea what her exact weight is right now. I'm going to try and buy a scale today, but I swear she feels hollow.

 

[81SHOVELHEAD]

My new girl Daisy is 11" long and as light as a feather. Her previous owner fed her Mazuri Tortoise Chow and ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Diet, so at this time that's pretty much all I can get her to eat. On the bag, it says to feed her 1-4% of her body weight a day, but I'm assuming they mean 1-4% of what she's supposed to weigh, and I have no idea how much that is. Care sheets on these guys love to list sizes, but I can't find any that list a typical weight for one that's 11"

Can anyone tell me? I have no idea what her exact weight is right now. I'm going to try and buy a scale today, but I swear she feels hollow.
Hello Shelly
I Purchased a 7.5" male 2 yrs ago in same condition.
I could not get him to eat .Took him to the vet with clean bill of helth .
After a couple of Vet visits & a couple of shots of B-12 Bubba is now 9.5" long & eating like a horse .
If she is eating though i would just feed her the Mazuri & Forest diet mix until she is full (walks away from dish)
My six redfoots Gets 2 cups of MAZURI/FOREST tortoise diet every other day .
In the days in between they get a salad of mustard /collard/turmip/yellow squash/zucinni chopped up ,
They also get hibiscus leaves & flowers .
I also offer fruit (mango,peaches,grapes ,melon once every 2 weeks
Perhaps the previous owner had limited amout of income & could only afford to feed the tortoise a couples of time a week .
Hope this helps
Mike D.

 

[DaisyDuke]

Sheldon is about that size [he's 10-10 1/2.] He just had his yearly wellness check yesterday and he is 3.3 pounds.
She was very please with that. So I would guess around there. Maybe a bit more 3-5 pounds.
When did you schedule her wellness check for? Maybe if you tell them how concerned you are they can fit you in sooner.

 

[shellysmom]

OK, thanks all, this info helps. Her first checkup is not until next week. She's very active, eating well, and has no signs of any infections. Seems like she was cared for pretty well, maybe just didn't quite get as much food as she should have. It looks like maybe she could eat about $30 worth of tortoise chow a week, so that definitely could have been a limiting factor as Mike pointed out.

 

[Madkins007]

Keep in mind that tortoise metabolisms are V E R Y slow- they need less than 1/2 the food a mammal the same weight would. If the animal is underweight, it is often dehydrated. Does she have sunken eyes? Runny eyes? Dry skin?

The reason Mazuri recommends 1-4% of the body weight is because of how many calories it has in it vs. how many calories the animal needs. Too many calories and not enough calorie burning makes an obese tortoise. (Obesity in tortoises is a bit tricky- it shows up as rapid growth at first, then as a tort that does not have enough room in the shell for the fatty tissue, and that puts pressure on all of the organs.

Before you significantly increase the food supply, make sure it is not dehydrated (https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/health-and-medical/hydration )

If you decide to boost the intake, consider keeping the Mazuri at 1-4%, but adding greens and veggies for more fiber, bulk, moisture, etc.

 

[shellysmom]

Keep in mind that tortoise metabolisms are V E R Y slow- they need less than 1/2 the food a mammal the same weight would. If the animal is underweight, it is often dehydrated. Does she have sunken eyes? Runny eyes? Dry skin?

The reason Mazuri recommends 1-4% of the body weight is because of how many calories it has in it vs. how many calories the animal needs. Too many calories and not enough calorie burning makes an obese tortoise. (Obesity in tortoises is a bit tricky- it shows up as rapid growth at first, then as a tort that does not have enough room in the shell for the fatty tissue, and that puts pressure on all of the organs.

Before you significantly increase the food supply, make sure it is not dehydrated (https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/health-and-medical/hydration )

If you decide to boost the intake, consider keeping the Mazuri at 1-4%, but adding greens and veggies for more fiber, bulk, moisture, etc.

Mark, this is fantastic info, great link! I even made my way to the tortie BMI page. She literally feels like she weighs just a couple pounds or so, which would give her a BMI way under .6, but I won't know for sure until I can get her weighed tomorrow... YIKES! Her eyes were tearing up a lot the first day I got her, but no other outward signs of dehydration. She did drink a ton of water the first day she was here. She kept going back to the water dish again and again and I could see her little throat moving as she gulped and gulped. I ended up putting her in the water to soak as well, and have been soaking her tortoise chow also. Poor thing, so hungry and thirsty. I'm hoping she'll become interested in other foods. I've offered a lot of different things, but so far the only ones she has been interested in are hibiscus flowers and, of course, a strawberry. She won't touch greens... *sigh*

 

[tortadise]

I would utilize the mazuri that she will eat, and blend all sorts of greens, hibiscus, cactus, squash, endive, dandelion. Should work since mazuri will be in the puree as well. As mark stated she is probably really dehydrated. Do soaks with some vitamins in it.

 

[jpdhld]

My girl would not touch greens either when I first got her! Well really she would not eat or drink for the first 4 months unless I put her directly on her food then she would only eat a small amount climb off and sleep for ever! Many people reassured me to keep doing what I was doing, keep her temps in her habitat where they should be and she'll perk up and eat! And know she love to eat, however there are defiantly this she thinks. She should not eat like any of the pre pack dehydrated tort foods, she will pick at them but does not ever eat them good. She looks at me like " really you want me to eat this! You eat this!" yup I have a diva tort lol

 

[shellysmom]

I had not picked her up since Monday because she seems pretty shy and I wanted her to settle in and get comfortable. I just picked her up for the first time in 4 days and she's already heavy like a rock. She was waaaaay dehydrated. That's crazy. And sad to think how long she was living like that. Can't chronic dehydration cause problems with their kidneys and such? Wow. Unreal. She feels like she weighs about 10 pounds now...

 

[Madkins007]

Dehydration can indeed cause problems, but most of them are correctable or manageable.