Hello from Cheshire

[StephieAck]

Hello all.
I am new to the world of tortoise owning. My sister bought her children two Horsefield tortoises and for the longest time, they seemed to get on. As they got older, they began to hurt each other, to the point of drawing blood. So I have taken one of them in to live with me. I brought him home today. I am still trying to get to grips with what is normal and if there are any issues with him (I think its a him, Im not sure). Ill pop him along to a vets soon to be absolutely sure that he is well, I think he is a little heavy for his age from looking up weights on here, but I don't know.
Anyway, Im Steph and my tortoise is called Speedy (niece named him) and he is a horsefield and he is around 6/7 years old.

[becciwales]

Hi and welcome xx

[emma_mcraf]

Welcome to you and Speedy. Looking forward to seeing photos. If you put a photo of his plastron (underside) up, we can have a go at sexing this horsfield for you. You need five posts before you can post photos.

[alley cat]

Welcome to the forum Steph and Speedy

Unless you are worried that your tortoise is actually ill then I wouldnt waste your money taking Speedy for a vet check, most vets know very little about tortoises, if you post pics and ask questions on here you will probably get more helpful information than from the vet!

Weight is to do with length, age is not important, you can measure your torts shell length underneath (plastron) then post what it is and the weight for advise as to whether he/she is ok.

To find out Speedys sex you can post a pic of the tail when the tort is turned over. Horsfields are quite easy to sex when mature.

[Rosey-Bear]

Hi and welcome.

I agree with the others, this forum seems more helpful than some of the vets. Love the name.

[Suze65]

Agree with Alley, don't rush to the vets unless there's obviously something wrong , and then make sure you find a specialist exotics vet.

[lonelylayla]

Hello and welcome from me too Looking forward to seeing pics of Speedy

[StephieAck]

Thank you for the lovely welcome everyone.
No Im not overly worried about Speedy, he seems very happy here. He is more active than I have ever seen him, eating well, pooping (good well formed but not too hard), peeing and being really friendly. I expected for him to be off his food for a while and no poops and pees but nope, his appetite is healthy and I have seen him poop at least twice and pee maybe three times. He has only really been used to cauliflower florets, broccoli, tiny bits of cucumber on occasion and some cress and on sunny days he would graze on my sisters lawn. I am slowly adding in the 'weeds' he should be having, like dandelion etc but not too quickly so as not to shock his system.
Ill put pics on when Im able to.
I measured him as instructed and he is 5 1/2" long. He weighs in at a whopping 515g, which seems kind of heavy to me at his 6/7 years old, if this seems too heavy can someone advise on how to right this? Thanks.
So far he seems very happy and is really 'coming out of his shell' so to speak. He does love his baths and even inbetween those he likes a little soak in his water bowl haha
So, thanks for the welcome xx

[egyptiandan64]

Did you measure the carapace (top shell) or plastron (bottom shell)? If you measured the carapace in a straight line (5.5 inches comes out to about 14cm), your Horsfields should weigh about 640g. So definately not over weight at 515g.

Danny

[Catwoman63]

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1ASZg0

Hope this works.

I use this chart for my horsfields but it is only a guide.

Welcome to the forum x