Hi i have just weighed my 2 hermanns and think at least one of them is overweight, was wondering if anyone can help with this...

female hermanns, 4 years old, weighs 1 kilo and is 6 and a half inches long.

male hermanns, 5 years old, weighs 900 grams and is 6 inches long.

thanks

claire

Hi Claire

You need to have both measurements in metric to be able to use the Jacksons Ratio to see whether your tortoise is the right weight, so weight in grammes and length in cm. 

There is an article on how to weigh and measure your tortoise accurately here:-

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/151.asp

which also has a link through to the Jacksons Ratio - if you have any problems using it, please let us know.

Without knowing whether their weight/length ratio is OK, I would say they do sound a bit heavy for their age, can you let us know what you are feeding them, and how much?

all the best

Arlene TPG

Hi and thanks for your reply, the younger but heavier female was kept in a viv until finding this site and i do think i probably overfed, they both now get outside most days and are on a tortoise table when they are inside and now only eat dandelions, plantain and other weeds, and i have vastly reduced how much i give, I dont know how to work out the measurements as it says to cube the length, and dont know how, they are 1000grammes and 16.5cm and 900grammes and 15cm, can you possibly help me work it out?

thanks

claire

Hi Claire,

This is the way it's calculated:-

For your larger tortoise:-

1000 divided by (16.5 x 16.5 x 16.5)

1000 divided by 4492.125 = 0.222

2nd Tortoise:-

900 divided by (15 x 15 x 15)

900 divided by 3375 = 0.266

If you click on the below link you can see both are heavy for their size.

http://www.britishcheloniagroup.org.uk/caresheets/jackson.htm

The most concerning thing is that they are both absolutely huge for their age which will affect their bone and shell growth, which will need attention with a good supplemented diet, a good lighting (UVB)/heating system and very slow growth. I'd be inclined to slow them down so they are hardly putting on very little weight at all. Do you use Nutrobal at all or any other supplements please?

HTH
Kindest Regards

Darren

Hi thankyou for getting back to me, i did think they were overweight, they are both lively and appear healthy but the vet didnt seem concerned with their weight, even though i am, i use nutrobol twice a week and have cut their food down to a small handful between them once a day, the larger female has got a couple of bumps on her shell and is a little soft underneath but my male looks in perfect condition.

Have i damaged them forever or can it be fixed? The shop i go to supports vivariums and supermarket greens so thats what i fed until about 6 months ago.

thanks again

claire

Hi Claire,

It's not unusual for people to follow a pet shop's advice. They spend lots of money on completely inappropriate equipment thinking they are doing their best for the tortoise and have no reason to think they aren't doing things correctly.

Slow growth will enable the tortoise's system to concentrate on improving and maintaining a tortoises existing shell and bones, rather than using the resources for additional growth. We have some tortoises here that were in very poor condition, but have improved immensely over the years, merely by changing their husbandry and continued slow growth. There is no reason why they cannot have a long full life

I'd be inclined to weigh them regularly to ensure they aren't putting on too much weight.

You may well have seen the Hermanns care sheets on the website, if not there is a link here that may help:-

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/88.asp

Good to hear from you, please feel free to post as many questions as you’d like, we will always endeavour to get back as quickly as we can and there are many other keepers on here to share experiences with.

Kindest Regards

Darren

Thankyou so much, your help and advice has been invalueable, this website is brilliant and im now doing everything correctly i think, but always still learning.

Im sure i will have many more questions in the future lol

Thankyou

Claire