This program calculates body mass condition of the tortoises Testudo graeca, T. hermanni and T. marginata of carapace length 100 mm or larger.
The method is described in Hailey (2000). The equations used for all three species and studies of captive tortoises are described in Willemsen and Hailey (2002) and Willemsen et al. (2002).
It is important to measure length and weight accurately, and in the standard way, otherwise the condition index may be very misleading. A condition index of -0.1 corresponds to about 80 % of expected weight, Jackson's "dangerously low" threshold (Jackson, 1985).
Proceed with calculation. This requires a browser that supports Javascript. You enter tortoise length, weight, species and sex at the prompts; if the sex is not known, enter this as female. Recent versions of Internet Explorer may block your computer from running scripts for security. If the calculate page (link below) does not function, right-click anywhere on that page, then select "Export to Microsoft Excel". The calculation should then work in a new window. (July 2010: Thanks to Alexandra Schek of Giessen, Germany, for pointing out this problem.)
Hailey, A. (2000). Assessing body mass condition in the tortoise Testudo hermanni. Herpetol. J. 10: 57-61. abstract . download
Jackson, O.F. (1985). The clinical examination of reptiles. In Reptiles: breeding, behaviour and veterinary aspects, pp 91-97. Townson, S. & Lawrence, K. (Eds). British Herpetological Society, London.
Willemsen, R. E. & Hailey, A. (2002). Body mass condition in Greek tortoises: regional and interspecific variation. Herpetol. J. 12: 105-114. abstract . download
Willemsen, R. E., Hailey, A., Longepierre, S. & Grenot, C. (2002). Body mass condition and management of captive European tortoises. Herpetol. J. 12: 115-121. abstract . download