General Care Discussion :: how to tell if a turtle is overweight?

[pao]

im not too sure if im overfeeding my turtles, i usually feed them when i get home from school or work which is in the evening, i sometimes lose track of how much i feed both of them, but is there a way to tell if my turtles are too fat or too skinny?

[TXGUY]

hi pao, did you already read the NUTRITION section on this website?
it gives you a lot information on diet and nutrition, and different types of food for your RES ,
i'm not sure how to direct you from here to the topic,but I try

www.redearslider.com/nutrition

[TXGUY]

well, i KNow is not working, but just go to the main home page and you'll see "nutrition there

[SpotsMama]

If you look at the very top of this page on the far right side you'll see a black rectangle that says "site quick jump" It will get you to Nuitrition real easily.

[pao]

ive read the nutrition section, from what i read i should feed them roughly the the amount about the size of their heads, but it also says that i can feed them less amounts of pellets that are high in protein, i feed them reptomin pellets which says "42.5%" min. crude protein, does that mean i should feed them less than the size of their heads? and is there a physical way to tell if theyre over/underweight?

[SpotsMama]

Reptomin is a great brand - for Reptomin, you can feed them the amount that would fill their hollow heads.

If they're overweight, they can't get all their bodies into their shells even if they try. You can see turtle flesh bulging out especially around their rears. If they've been seriously overfed over time, their shells will become deformed with pyramiding and upcurved edges. If the overfeeding goes on too long, their bodies get a deformed look and their shells look very lumpy.

[pao]

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc21 ... C00422.jpg
thats a picture of the turtle im thinking is overweight, is that what you mean y upcurved edges? or is that normal, because my other turtle's shell isnt like that, if that is a sign of my turtle being overweight, should i lessen the amount it eats, and is the upcurved shell edge permanent? or will my turtle grow out the shell back to what it should look like?

[SpotsMama]

That turtle doesn't look overweight to me. If anything, it's a bit on the thin side. I don't think the edges are curving up either.

Usually the little growing turtles like the one in your picture don't get overweight so much as they grow too fast. When they get bigger, then the excess goes to fat.

Here's a very overweight grown turtle:

[marisa]

The turtle in that pic looks OK to me. If you're turtle needed to lose some weight, when he pulled his legs into his shell you'd see flab pouching out around them.

Shells that are curling upward would have a definite uptilt to the marginal scutes---think of the edge of a hat that as an upward tilt to the brim. About how old/big is your turtle? If he's small/young, a slight curl can be corrected to a large extent with a corrected diet, good habitat and time.

[Bumby's Mom]

Uh Oh sounds like I have an overweight turtle too! Nyxie can't go all the way into her shell, there is flabby skin in the rear leg sockets, and her shell is a little lumpy. I feed her Reptomin every other day and meal worms maybe once a week as a treat.

[untsmurf]

The pics of Nyx don't look like that, unless I'm misinterpreting it... The pink skin coming out is fat, right?

I think we talked about this before and decided that the little pudge around the tail area is normal.

I'm not sure about her shell though.