Breeding Size?

[Kyle101]

I was wondering if anyone knows a good source to find the information I am looking for.

I have 2.2 Iberian Greeks. I have had them for nearly three years now. when i got them they had about 50 grams different in weight from the smallest to largest one. With SCL of 11 to 13cm.

My second smallest one (Spot) has really started to grow. In the past year she has grown over 500 grams in weight and 4 cm SCL.

Today's weight on her was 815 grams and SCL 15.5 cm. I have read that they become sexually mature when there SCL reaching 16 cm. Is this true? Should I pull her from the group to let her body become fully developed before she starts laying eggs.

If anyone knows of any good information out there I would love to read it.

Thanks for your time.

 

[GBtortoises]

16 cm (approx. 6") would be a very small mature female. Whether she is in a group or kept solitarily will have no influence on egg development. It happens when it happens. The environment, specifically change in seasonal triggers, influence egg development, breeding, brumation (hibernation) and so on. I would caution growing the tortoise(s) too rapidly. A 2" increase in is a lot in a years time and definitely much more than a normal rate, even in captivity.

 

[Kyle101]

I have also been concerned with her weight gain. I have her in the same environment as the rest feeding her the same diet. Yet the others have maybe gained 100 games the last year and about 1/2 cm. so my question is how do i get her to grow at a more normal rate?

 

[FLINTUS]

By Iberian, do you mean Ibera the subspecies, or Testudo Graeca Graeca which occupies habitat in the peninsula commonly referred to as Iberia?

 

[Kyle101]

subspecies

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[FLINTUS]

Ok, just wanted to check. She may be sexually active but probably not ready to breed.

 

[GBtortoises]

If she is "sexually active" she is ready to breed. With any female tortoise "sexually active" equals ready (capable) of producing eggs. As far as I am aware, males of all tortoise species become sexually developed before females at a younger age/smaller size. Females typically develop later and are more often larger and older. Many people mistake a male mounting a female as breeding. Young, sexually mature males will mount females of almost any age. This does not mean that the female is sexually mature. Males will often aggressively pursue females and continue to ram them, bite them and mount them and court them in whatever way is done within that species. This is the primary reason to keep males and females seperate or in multiple female groups in captivity, to avoid females becoming injured and stressed. Successful copulation will only take place when a female is sexually mature and ready (triggered by their environmental conditions) to breed. Despite how aggressive and persistant a male may be. Simply put, despite what it may look like with a male constantly mounting a female, ultimately, it is the female that decides when breeding will take place, not the male.

 

[FLINTUS]

Ok, sorry best way to put it is 'interested in the opposite sex,' lol