Unhealthy weights?

[Brit G]

Cerce the leopard tortoise and Cerberus the Sulcata have been with me for a couple months now. At first, they seemed to gain weight quickly, but now, not at all. Am I being too paranoid? 3 weeks passed since their last weighing and they either stayed the same, or lost some grams!

I try to feed variety, but Cerce has had some *serious* gas issues and giant feces, so lately stick to mazuri diet, grass, mustard greens, and Timothy hay. In the past, fed a lot of hibiscus leaves/petals, mustard greens, Timothy hay, pumpkin, and various grasses from completely untreated areas. Grass and mizuri diet always 65-75% of what they eat...

 

[Brit G]

Found pictures of the weights I took 10/3/18 - Cerberus lost 2 grams since then, while Cerce gained those 2 grams.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm assuming you adjusted the scale for the weight of the bowl?

 

[JoesMum]

Are you consistent in when you weigh them?

At that size a poop or a pee can make a massive difference to weight. Weigh them no more than once a fortnight and always do it at the same time of day for consistency.

Weighing first thing in the morning, straight after a soak, is usually best for accuracy.

 

[Brit G]

Yvonne, the bowls were around 22g. I remember hoping that that might've been the issue so reweighed again that same day, being very careful to tare just in case. Same results.

I weigh them at night after soaking, after they've defecated like horses. I'll try to be more standardized on what DAY I weigh them, though. (Usually just whenever I happen to think about it, approx. every 2 weeks or so.)

Are you consistent in when you weigh them?

At that size a poop or a pee can make a massive difference to weight. Weigh them no more than once a fortnight and always do it at the same time of day for consistency.

Weighing first thing in the morning, straight after a soak, is usually best for accuracy.

 

[Brit G]

Thinking about it more carefully, a few grams here or there probably is not significant.

Still, I worry because they had a great, positive trend of weight gain when I had first gotten them... but, not anymore. Will continue to feed and monitor. Will update this post if I remember to.