Overweight Tort? What to look for

[Chipdog]

I was wondering what to look for as a marker for an overweight tortoise. I am pretty sure I have read here that "puffy" legs are not a good thing but I want to know how much to too much. I don't think my torts have a problem I just wanted to know what to look out for. I mean If I gain a little extra during the holidays I can always let the old belt out a notch or two. It seems for them it would just put more pressure on all the organs even making it hard to breath.

thanks for the info. pics would help out a bunch.

Chip

 

[Yvonne G]

My sister, Maggie, needs to post a picture of her female Russian tortoise. She is the poster child of an overweight tortoise. And its not easy to get them down to their optimal weight. The little Russian is completely happy in her environment and really likes to eat, however, because the weather is too cold to be outside, she doesn't get as much exercise as she needs. And you can't exactly put on a collar and leash and take them for a walk!

A rule of thumb would be: if they pull in their head and legs and you can still see some leg or head, they are a bit overweight. All you should be able to see is the bottom of the back feet and the front of the front legs.

Yvonne

 

[Maggie Cummings]

It's my Russian that Yvonne is talking about. Her back legs stick straight out to the side...I have her on the treadmill getting exercise as we speak...

 

[Yvonne G]

Its the tortoise's back legs, not mine!!!

Yvonne

 

[Maggie Cummings]

That's too funny!!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Maggie was kind enough to send me pictures of Natasha when she was off the treadmill:

Yvonne

 

[greenLUV]

lol wow thats such a cute russian, shes sooo chunky! try cutting back her food ration, that helped mine lose her excess weight

 

[sakkakth]

holy cow... and i thought salads were trimming!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

And...look at what she is doing to my carpet as I was taking the picture...lol

 

[sakkakth]

i swear to you... Tuck holds in all pee and poop till i put him on the carpet. Instantly the tail goes straight and then i have to run him over to something while he poops mid air to dodge the carpet. he does NOT want to go in his home... i guess that's smart...

 

[drgnfly2265]

LOL, my tort will do the same thing. As soon as I let him run around on the carpet in the living room, he will start to go pee or poo.

__________________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

 

[Yvonne G]

That is not just a fat tortoise, it appears to have grown badly. Is the plastron longer than the carapace or is it the picture angle?

No, her shell is fine, that's just the angle and the fat thighs.

Yvonne

 

[kevantheman35]

that russian must be on the ninja turtles pizza diet

 

[Yvonne G]

that russian must be on the ninja turtles pizza diet

Yeah, Maggie has pondered before how this tortoise can be so fat when all she eats is greens, something people eat to LOSE weight!!

Yvonne

 

[Crazy1]

Now, now, we shouldn't make fun of weight challenged Torts. They have feelings too you know. If it is not an eating disorder perhaps she has a metabolic disorder causing her to gain weight.
On the serious side I am sure Maggie is doing all she can to get this girl back into shape.

 

[Yvonne G]

I am sure Maggie is doing all she can to get this girl back into shape.

Here's a clue for you: Maggie has a cat that weighs about 25lbs, a 3 year old sulcata that weighs 14lbs, and, let's see...anything else?

We were talking the other day about her Sulcatas. She adopted Bob when he was 4 years old. At that time he was about the size of a soft ball cut in half. Tony is a year younger right now than Bob was when she got him, and he's appx. 13" scl and about 14lbs!

She tells me that the tread mill, swimming sessions and forced jogging just isn't having any effect on the poor little obese Russian!!

Yvonne

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My cat, Big Bubba, is actually 28 pounds, and that's down from 32. Just weighed with Bob last week, Bob is now 14 and he's 73 pounds.
Natasha, the Russian, eats a small and I mean small, handful of greens and once a week or so some grated zucchini. But she gets NO exercise. I do everything possible to make her move but she just won't. She is a rescue that I took from my sister. She is missing an eyeball and for some reason has a hard time with depth perception. I have other animals that are missing an eye or just plain blind and they don't have any problem moving around or eating. But she bites at the air above the food and it seems like she just gets the food by accident. So I am thinking that she has a hard time seeing with one eye and so is afraid to move around. Nothing I do makes her move. In an outside pen she will stay in whatever position I put her in. She won't walk around on the rug in the house and she lives in a nice habitat but only moves out to eat then heads back into her hide...So I decided to start feeding her every other day and see if that won't help her to either lose some weight or at least not gain anymore.

 

[egyptiandan]

I'm going to have to agree with Sue Her carapace hasn't grown. You should not be able to see thighs at any angle on a well grown tortoise, especially a Russian. Here are pictures of a 6 inch female of mine and you can't see thighs at any angle that I took pictures at.

Danny

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Danny...That's just really distressing. I do my best to raise any of my animals with the correct husbandry for that particular species. She was a rescue and I got her from my sister. I've just had her for about a year. In looking at your pictures I would have to agree that her carapace hasn't grown. So maybe she's not as fat as we think, she just looks fat because her carapace is smaller than she is. Gosh! What do you think I should do for her?

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, but Danny's tortoise isn't too fat like yours is. When you look at your fat tortoise in the real world, does her plastron stick out further than the carapace like it looks in the picture? I think that's just a bad angle of the picture. I really don't think her shell is too small for her body. Its just that she's too fat. But I've been wrong b-4!!

Y