Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What are the best characteristics for a scale used to weigh reptiles?
I am thinking that weight for hatchlings might be in grams and shift by 0.1 gram increments, but adults may weigh up to a few kilograms. It would be important for the scale to allow the weight of the container to be calculated and subtracted from the total.
Any scales out there that people use and recommend?

I have a Sunbeam Digital Electronic Postal Scale, Model SP5.

5 pound limit. My largest tort is an adult Russian who weighs about 2.3 pounds.

I record everything in grams. It doesn't display in 1/10ths of a gram, and I'm not worried about the weights to that level of precision. Even with the hatchlings, who generally gain multiple grams per week.

If you turn it on (or use the TARE button, which resets the scale) with a container on it, it will set the scale at ZERO and exclude the weight of the container.

With torts that are so big that they hang over the edges of the scale, or are too eager to crawl off, I just briefly set them on their back while weighing. Three seconds later, they are off.

For my tortoises that are too big to fit in the tray, I put in one of those Clorox wipe bottles, zero the scale and put the animal on it. It's legs hang over and they can't push themselves off.

Troya

In the clinic we use pediatric scales that have a nice tray, will weigh up to 20kg, and measure accurately to 10grams. For smaller animals, hatchlings ect. we use a postal scale that measures per gram. It'd be nice to have something more accurate for the real small stuff (certain geckos and the like) but I havn't found anything that suites this purpose.

Ian

I use a digital kitchen scale to measure my smaller redfoot. The larger one weighs more than the scale allows, so I use a pediatric scale for her. I usually weigh them once a week after they've been soaked.

for larger tortoises, I use hanging scales that weight in increments up (in my case) 35 kilos (77 lbs). Put the tort into a pillowcase or strong bag and hang the bag from the scales for a few seconds.

I use a Tanita digital scale, model KD-160

Weighs in g or oz, has a tare or if you turn it on with the container on it, it will automatically tare out the container. Comes with a container. It has a 1kg, 35oz maximum weight capacity (2.2 pounds).