Tortoise weight

[Shirley the tortoise]

Right. Having weighed Shirley yesterday she weighed 108g, having previously weighed 120g. I gave her a bath and today she weighs 116g. She gets baths every other day so shouldn't have been dehydrated.

Is this kind of weight fluctuation normal?

Have I got dodgy scales? Or am I asking for too much accuracy from them?

 

[JoesMum]

Please, don't weigh every day.

Your own weight varies throughout the day and across a week... and so does your tort's. It all depends on when/what was last eaten, drunk and pooped for both you and your tort!

4 grammes across one day is nothing at all! It's a tiny amount, barely a poop!

Weigh your tort no more than once a week, fortnightly is fine, and try to do it at roughly the same time of day each time. Any more frequently and you will become totally neurotic (Although, to be fair, tortoise keeping tends to make people neurotic anyway! )

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

I only weighed her two days running due to the shock of seeing her lose weight since the previous weigh in, it was about three weeks before that that I last weighed her. I just wanted to test what a typical daily fluctuation would be.

She's acting normally in every other way so I'm not too concerned.

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

She's now 137g. What a fatty.

 

[JoesMum]

She's now 137g. What a fatty.

My Joe is eating for England at the moment as well. He stopped growing years ago, but is up to 3.4kg by grazing our weedy lawn with occasional salady supplements from me. He's just been round the lawn taking the flowers off all the clover and buttercups. I reckon on 3.2kg being a good weight for him!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Glad you're not so worried now.
Scales can put your mind at rest, sometimes.

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

Shirley topped 200g today for the first time. Has also enjoyed a few days in her run outside recently. All is going well for Shirley.

 

[lauren and harry]

I live in the UK and got my scales from dunelm mill for 5 pounds harry my hermanns tortoise is coming up to 3 years old ive had him from 2 years old he weighs 195g and 8cm long.what ive read about hermanns weight is that they should be putting on at least 4g every 4 weeks which I don't think is enough for the amount of exercise he gets but his weight has been steady I'm not worried.

 

[georgeandbessy]

I live in the UK and got my scales from dunelm mill for 5 pounds harry my hermanns tortoise is coming up to 3 years old ive had him from 2 years old he weighs 195g and 8cm long.what ive read about hermanns weight is that they should be putting on at least 4g every 4 weeks which I don't think is enough for the amount of exercise he gets but his weight has been steady I'm not worried.

Hi if you're worried about his weight try using the Jackson ratio.
http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/171.asp:D

 

[Chanchara]

Hi if you're worried about his weight try using the Jackson ratio.
http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/171.asp:D

Some words about Jackson's curves.
I use them for a long time , but select a simple formula, which is a very good description of the curve Jackson.

P = 0,22 L*L*L (where P - weight, g; L - length, cm)

Now Jackson graphics - I put on them the data of my torts and calculations by the above formula.





PS: it is clear that there is no here fundamental difference between Jackson ratios, but in my opinion, it is clearer and more convenient