Mediterranean Spur Thigh underweight?
 

Hi guys, I'm wondering if someone could help me. I believe my Esther, my 3 yr old Mediterranean Spur Thigh, may be under weight. Just out of curiosity, we tried using the Jackson Ratio on her, and it says she is severely underweight. She weighs 285g and is around 14cm (measured properly, not using a tape measure over her shell), giving her a ratio of around 1.0. I haven't took her to the vets in the 3 months I have had her as she seems quite active and easily eats around 1-2 shell-size amounts of food (all weeds, such as bindweed, dandelion, English plantain, clover, small amounts of Timothy grass, several different flowers - all safe to moderate foods).

Is she a normal size do you reckon, or could it be something underlying? I'm ordering a worm test kit, but since she eats often, I haven't really thought of it as an issue. She has only put on 1 gram this month however, so I'm starting to think it may be a bad case of protozoans etc.

Thanks :)

Matt

. So a worm test is a good place to start. Is she alert, eating well, pooing and weeing normally ? Is she losing weight . See what comes back from the worm test.

Her weight should be more like 550 grams

If my tortoise had only put on one gram in a month, I would be happy, as that is good. Especially if she is eating well. This time of the year tortoises slow down and eat less anyway.
If you are really worried then a visit to a tortoise vet would be in order. As if there is something wrong, the faster you find out the better:0)