Hi, I am overwintering my hermanns tortoise, because he is a little underweight I keep a megaray on for 12-14 hours and then turn it off, but the tort just goes in his little house at the other end of the enclosure (cooler end)  and stays there unless I remove him for his daily soak, sometimes he is asleep in there other times he is just sitting, he is not eating well either.  I think he poos and wees, am unsure as there is another one in there who usually sits under the heat all day.

Hi there

A lot of tortoises will slow down at this time of year because despite all our best efforts with lighting and warmth, they know it is time to hibernate.  Having said that, what is the history with your tortoise, is there an underlying reason why your tortoise is a little underweight?  Have you had him checked for worms, has he been ill recently?  Can you also let us know the temps in the enclosure (basking and cool end)  It is also worth giving him a twice daily bath, often a warm bath in the morning will give a bit of a boost,

atb

Arlene TPG

Hi Arlene thanks for the reply :)

Chaplin is 4 yrs old and severely underweight according to the Jackson ratio, he has not been ill, I have measured him and he is 15cm and his weight is approx 400g, but I may be getting it all wrong, I have mechanical kitchen scales (the ones with a face) and am probably not working it out right on those, I was surprised at the fact that he is underweight as previously his appetite is voracious and I have no problem feeding him by hand.  This morning I gave him a hotter than normal bath and gave him some rocket by hand, which he snatched quite readily, put him in the enclosure and he ate a little and went straight to his house.

Have put the thermometer under the megaray and will send temps later

Can anyone recommend a good set of electronic scales that don't cost the earth please?

Hot end is 80, will just move the thermometer to the cool end :)

Cool end is 69, he has also done a white wee, that thick white stuff.

Hiya,

The basking area needs to be warmer, around 30deg c/90deg f this may explain why your other tortoise is basking for so long. The cooler end sounds ok. Can I please check they are in a tortoise table.
Any standard digital scales will suffice for weighing your tortoise, they usually around £10.00.

The length and weight of your tortoise doesn't appear to be correct at all.

If you follow this link, there is a Jackson Ratio calculator link on this page - you'll see what I mean. There is also a link to show how to measure the straight carapace length (SCL).

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/169.asp

Please let us know how you get on with the weight & length.

HTH
Kindest Regards

Darren

Hi Darren, thanks for the reply, my tortoises are in an indoor rabbit cage with a large dome lamp (but it is on the outside of the cage) and a megaray, I have recently purghased a clamp lamp as well, so may try that to get the heat closer.

Kerry

Hi Kerry

Kimbos do a couple of lamp stands which are very good:-
http://www.kimbosreptileworld.co.uk/large-lamp-stand-p-135.html

The problem with the clamp lamps, is that it directs the light into the tortoises eyes and there is a risk of sight damage.


HTH
Darren

The clamp lamp has worked a treat, should it be at an angle to protect their eyes?

Thanks Darren, I have the small lamp stand from Kimbos, the large one would lift the lamp even higher and the temp would be too low again, have had to lower it all by taking bars out of the cage and dropping the lamp in, it is well clear of the tortoises but is sitting straight, I can adjust to an angle to protect their eyes if need be, mind you the bulb protrudes out of the shade.  Am cutting more bars out and will put deep dome in.

Chaplin is 11cm and 350-400g the number on the ratio calculator was 0.2630064929, if that is still not right, I will

a) buy digital scales

 b) start banging my head against a large wall (lol)

Option A sounds the best option....................initially

If this fails you can always try option b .........but it may not help

350-400 is a massive difference - you definitely need some digi scales. Did you check the methood your using to measure her length at all please, link here:-

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/77.asp

HTH & that you're having a good weekend

TC
Darren

Sorry I meant to mention that I have two of the large lamp stands here and the lamp height can be adjusted by lowering the lamp in the holder fixing.

Hi

Chaplin is 312g and 11cm in length (I did it properly :)) the weght was taken on my brand new electronic scales. :)

If I add the half cm that I left off` (11.5) it makes him a ratio of 20, that sounds great to me :) and I can hopefully relax, thanks for your patience and help.

Have a lovely weekend too :)

LOL - glad you're sorted:-)

TC
Darren