My daughter took Linford to the vet just to check him out and see how old. The vet weighed 400g would that be right? Swabbed his mouth, don't know what for! said his eyes nose were fine. He then held him top and under, had his fingers n thumb round his jaw and took his hand away, leaving his little arm n legsdangling. I was horrified when my daughter told me. Is this normal practice? Said he couldn't really say how old he is.

Nell 

Hi Nell,

It sounds quite normal - I'm not sure what he wanted the swab for, possibly to run tests?
If he opened his mouth, he may well have been checking for mouth rot and the general condition of the mouth, how the jaw is working, possibly pressed under the chin in the jawline to check for UTRD (runny nose syndrome) - it all sounds OK and it is impossible to age a tortoise. It's always a good idea to ask a vet what he is doing/testing for at the time - they are usually quite happy to share information and it's a good way to learn. It doesn't sound anything out of the ordinary.

HTH
Darren

Thanks Darren, I was worried about his neck, suppose that's just me being a newbie