Turbos weight?

[sulcatasweety]

Hi all, I took turbo to the vet for the first time since we got him in may. I'm not sure of his age , because he was a gift to my son from family members and they never asked. He only weighs 136 grams. To me this seems rather small for a tortoise . I don't have a prior weight but he does look bigger than when we first got him. He eats and poops and is very active but I was wondering if y'all think his weight is too light

 

[Tom]

All of my sulcatas were 136 at one point. We need to know his age, size, diet, enclosure size and temps.

 

[sulcatasweety]

Like I said I really have no clue as to what age he is. We've been having him almost three months. His shell is 4" He is fed a varied diet of Bermuda dandelion fescue and a tortoise mix I purchased. With prickly pear cactus as a favorite treat. He gets soaked now twice a day since I've read up on pyramiding ( which he's had since we've gotten him. His table is a little small at 2'x5' but we are in the process of making a new one to accommodate him for the winter time. His temps stay at 85 with a basking spot of 100 and he has access to water I have a reptifogger set on 80% and Che and a UVB light He has an outdoor enclosure that measure 8x8 with water access and grass with varied plants. I just order the mazuri everyone is talking about in hopes it will help him grow Am I missing anything?

 

[Tom]

Everything you mentioned there sounds good, although I don't think soaking more than once a day is necessary. At that size I even skip a day sometimes. I do daily soaks for hatchlings and once they hit 100 grams, I relax a bit.

If you don't know his history, and he is showing signs of pyramiding, its a safe bet that he is a victim of the dry routine. These poor torts do tend to grow slower initially, but now that he is in good hands, and getting good care, he should be fine. My Daisy barely grew at all for almost two years, and then she seemed to "get over the hill" so to speak and just took off. At almost 6 years old now, she is within the range of a "normal" female sulcata of her age. Those were two very frustrating years, but I've almost forgotten about it now.

Sounds like you are doing everything right. Just give it time. The Mazuri might help. It certainly won't hurt. It might also help to take a fecal sample in for a check. They can pick up pinworms on the wind with no contact with any other animals at all.

 

[sulcatasweety]

Ok thanks Tom , I will do that tomorrow. Now that I have a base weight I plan on going once a month to keep track of his growth. It's taken some revamping on my part but thanks to this forum I feel I'm on the right track. I guess since I'm a newbie I'm worried I'm messing up. Really appreciate all your help!

 

[Tom]

Hey, after keeping chelonians for most of my life, I still think I'M messing up sometimes! We are ALL still learning. Glad we could help you.