Autumn wind down...or poorly?

[sandy]

The white markings on the plastron are signs of fast growth.
They can probably be seen on the Carapace too.
Your tortoise will do well to have a short (eight week) hibernation. As it will help slow down any extra growth, if he/she were kept up:0)

[Rambotron]

Thanks that puts my mind at ease that its just growth.

I cant hibernate her this year, i only got her on the 1st of jan and she was seriously ill. Her shell is not yet 100% hardened and she is not quite up to weight yet.

The vet os quite happy that at the rate shes improving she shoulf be okay to hibernate next winter, but for now i just have to keep her up :/

[sandy]

Originally Posted by Rambotron

Thanks that puts my mind at ease that its just growth.

I cant hibernate her this year, i only got her on the 1st of jan and she was seriously ill. Her shell is not yet 100% hardened and she is not quite up to weight yet.

The vet os quite happy that at the rate shes improving she shoulf be okay to hibernate next winter, but for now i just have to keep her up :/

Thats fair, but I would suggest feeding less through out the Winter, to lessen the weight gain.
Make sure you spread any food around, so your tortoise is not just plonked in front of them, and they at least have to look/walk for it:0)

Forgot to say, tortoises will eat any food at any time, they never fill up, so when you have fed them, dont look at those pleading eyes, they are just trying
to make you feel sorry for them:0)

[Rambotron]

Thanks sandy, i think i got so so worried for that week were her appetite just disapeared that i might have been gving her big portions to make up with it and that combined with the reduced activity... yeah it makes sense.

I will try and ignore these pleading eyes lol

[IMG][/IMG]

[sandy]

From the last picture of your tortoise sitting on the food bowl, you can see the raised scutes quite clearly:0) So no signs of her being starved:0)
Weighing your tortoise once a month, and keeping a record of the weight, does help give you an idea of growth. Your tortoise should ideally only put on 2-3 grms a month. Sometiimes they can have a growth spurt, but this is only once or twice a year in the first years. Better they dont put on weight some months.
If you keep the record, you can see a pattern.
Tortoises are a lot tougher than you think:0)

[Rambotron]

I do regularly weigh her to keep track and am quite happy that the 'new' growth since ive had her is far smoother than the growth she came to me with. .

I was told by the vet that at this stage in her recovery she should be putting on more than 2-3 grms because she will also be putting on weight as her bone density increases also? However she has made significant progresss since january, so I will start aiming for 2-3 grms now.

Below is a pic showing the difference from January to now.
[IMG][/IMG]

[CherryBrandy]

lovely tortoise and can tell well hydrated too, CB