No weight gain

[beeclaire80]

Hi,

Hope we are all well?

I weighed Floyd today as he was in a very active mood after a couple of sleepy days!

He hasn’t gained anything since I got him. He was 47g on 23/9/20 and is still 47g now.

He has had 4 poos today though (2 before weighing) and 2 after and has had a big wee with urates in (has had urates every day for the last few days!). His poos weren’t loose but were definitely softer than previously.

His worm count kit arrived today but it arrived after the 2 poo and the kit says use the first one so I’ll try to get it tomorrow.

I’m wondering if it’s his change in diet that has made him poo a bit more. In the shop he was eating leafy salad (think from a bag!) and we have pretty much given him a diet of plantain, mallow, geranium, dandelion and the odd bit of lambs lettuce.

Thoughts?

Picture of him being very active and climbing (which then results in falling!)

[Nina]

Hi Claire,

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. It is possible that when you weighed him on the 23rd it was before any poo, so he was carrying a bit of extra weight, and the fact that he had four poos yesterday means that he will probably have lost several grams in those poos. So I wouldn't be too alarmed. Also, what scales are you using ( a lot of scales aren't super accurate at lower weights, and 47g is really small).

The softness of the poos will depend on what he has been eating (things like lettuce and succulents will produce softer poos and very fibrous plants will produce drier ones -- and drier is sort of better). Lol, did you ever expect a year ago to have in depth and rather stressful conversations about the consistency of tortoise poo? Join the club!

The diet you are giving him sounds just fine to me. And is he eating pretty well? If he's eating well then I really don't think there is a problem. So many tortoises have stopped eating altogether at this time of year (they sense the shorter days and go into hibernation mode), and if Floyd is active and eating then I think he will be fine. You do want to aim for very slow growth anyway (about 1g - 3g per month on average), because slow growth will produce a nice smooth shell.

Keep on keeping records and let us know how you get on with the poo test and his weight. And thanks for the photo -- he really is one handsome little chappy!

Nina

[beeclaire80]

Hi Nina,

I thought my days talking about poo were long gone now my youngest is 10!

Well he’s not done any today so I’m guessing he’s had a big clear out!

I’ll weigh him again next week and see how it looks!

We’ve finally sorted his light out today so it’s not on the angle any more and his enclosure temps are much better. Hopefully this will help.

Claire x

[beeclaire80]

Update!

We’ve hit 50gm this morning!

[Nina]

Yippee! Clear sailing from here on. Before you know it we'll be telling you to restrict his food because he is becoming such a chubby little tortoise.

Nina

[beeclaire80]

I’m keeping a close on him following his worm check.

I spoke to a veterinary clinic via email who send to send another sample off this week and if the reading comes back high again they will consider treating as per our conversation on here. But as the antibiotics can upset the gut flora on top of the Protozoa they want to just see if two weeks changes anything.

So I’ll be collecting poo again tomorrow. Owning a tort is very glamorous indeed!

Picture of him enjoying his cuttlebone (which he’s not left alone since putting it in!)

[beeclaire80]

Well you weren’t wrong....
Weighed today and weighing in at 60g!!

I know it’s a massive jump but I’m guessing he’s been unwell and we are now almost 2 weeks into his antibiotics (1 more injection to go!). He’s most definitely feeling better!






Nina wrote:
> Yippee! Clear sailing from here on. Before you know it we'll be telling
> you to restrict his food because he is becoming such a chubby little
> tortoise.
>
> Nina

[Nina]

My goodness --there'll be no stopping him now, and he's got your good care to thank for this! You should be really proud of how he's progressed.

Nina