Weight issue?

[sambo]

Hi guys, so I've had my 2 leopard tortoises for about 6 months and I'm having issues getting my smaller one to put on weight. He's always active and was the smallest of the litter. He currently only weighs 90g and all his siblings are well over 160g. My other one weighs 165g and the one my stepdad kept weighs about 200g. I'm thinking of taking him to the vets just to get a check up but do wonder if it's because he's the smallest and is always active. But then he's weight never changes from 85g to 95g. Any advice or information please would be welcomed [emoji1]

 

[Michael Malone]

First off Hello and welcome to the TFO. And Let me just say I am not the resident expert but since I am first to respond let me ask you a few questions that way when the more experienced people read over you questions they wont have as much delay in there advice.
.
1. What is the diet you are feeding?

2. What are you temps and humidity?

3. What is you enclosure size?

4. What kind of uvb do you have coil uvb or tube. And also what type of heating? light or ceramic emitter.

Those are a few questions I can remember off the top of my head that everyone is going to ask.

Like I said before I am no expert but what I ha e learned so far is humidity is one of the biggest factors to tort growth. And the right diet. And I have also learned that nothing could be wrong at all every tort grows at his or her own pace.

I am going to tag a few of the more experienced members that helped get me on the right path.


@Tom
@Welllington
@Mark84
@Yvonne G

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings

You might want to upload a pix of your entire enclosure. This will help the Group provide additional input.

• Are your two torts being housed together?

On a minor point, I would suggest sinking your water dish down into the substrate so your tort can easily drop head down and drink and soak.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

The first and most obvious issue is that tortoises should not be living as pairs. It is not good for them, and what you are seeing is the usual result. One thrives and grows, while the other doesn't. Its not a good situation for either of them.

I also see that your enclosure is dry and with low humidity. This is not good for them either.

I can't see exactly what you are feeding them, but in your avatar pic, it looks like a bunch of lettuce. What all do you feed them?

The questions that Michael asked will get us started on a conversation to solving your problem and making things better.

Here is the care info for leopards:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

The threads above list some things that are not typical of most of what you will hear out in the world for this species. We've been caring for them all wrong for decades, and only in the last few years have we begun to figure out what is wrong and why.

This one was typed up for sulcatas. The same info applies to leopards, but with less emphasis on grass. There is a good list of foods farther down:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Greg T]

As stated above, work with your enclosure and diet. Use the care sheets Tom mentioned to find a good diet. I have found that once my babies are eating well on a balanced lettuce diet, if I add softened Mazuri to their food a few times a week they will gain weight quickly.