As you can see with this meerkat his testicles are symmetrical. Each chap’s testicles can vary in size a bit (up to 20%). A varicocele can affect the function of the testis. One indication of this is if the left testicle is significantly smaller than the right.
We use a portable ultrasound machine to calculate the size of each testicle. It takes a few minutes and is painless but gives us valuable information.
The volume of a testicle can be calculated by measuring the length, width and height of the testis. These are multiplied together and times by 0.52.
This photo shows the length and depth of the testis being measured.