normal rate of growth for baby box turtle?

[Loohan]

I am wondering if my little guy had some pre-existing condition. Here he is Aug 4, right after i found him sitting under the overhang of my outbuilding. Due to the perspective he appears much larger than the quarter, but actually he wasn't. Use the lines on my palm for reference. He seemed about 1" diameter, although i did not measure.

Here he is Nov 9, not much bigger. (His head appears disproportionately large here.)

Meanwhile he had been eating heartily. Most days he would eat a medium-sized grasshopper, or most of it (never the hind legs). Or a cricket or two. Except for a couple bites, he spurned all fruit and greens. He has never shown interest in mushrooms, summer squash, tomato. I had a cuttle bone in his box, but he never nibbled on it.
He also ate 3-4 wood roaches and a couple grubs i was lucky enough to find in a rotten log. I soaked and sunned him often.
Should he have grown more in 3 months?

 

[Ciri]

He looks good. I see a little growth on his shell. He'll grow more next spring. He's eating the right things – bugs and worms. That's the most natural diet and has the most important nutrients for a growing baby box turtle. That's good that he doesn't eat the hind legs of grasshoppers. I usually remove the hind legs before feeding the grasshopper. Cute baby! I assume a three toed box turtle?

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

Your cute little tort looks fine, you needn't worry. Take good care of it.

 

[tortdad]

Looks fine. I have 3 that are a year and a half old and they aren't much bigger than yours.

 

[Loohan]

Problem is, he's been a "breatharian" since around that time. See
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/baby-not-eating.109380/

I am still awaiting the USB cord i ordered some time ago, which i need to post a new pic.
I assumed he's an Eastern Box Turtle, but 3-toes also reside in my area.

 

[Loohan]

Here is another pic from Nov 9. As you can see, he has more than 3 toes on his left paw. But he could be a hybrid.

 

[lisa127]

Three toes have 3 toes on the back feet - so check the back feet.

 

[Eric Phillips]

Cute Eastern, going to have some color. Scutes show growth from the 2 pictures. Good Luck!

 

[Loohan]

It's because he's so good looking that i assumed he was Eastern, but he does only have 3 toes on each hind foot.
(Duh, i guess "toed" would refer to HIND feet

 

[keepergale]

It's because he's so good looking that i assumed he was Eastern, but he does only have 3 toes on each hind foot.
(Duh, i guess "toed" would refer to HIND feet

Three "fingered" boxie would sound like a card shark.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Curious about why you brought him in instead of leaving him in the wild.

 

[tortdad]

Three "fingered" boxie would sound like a card shark.

Best comment of the day award goes to you, lol

 

[Loohan]

Curious about why you brought him in instead of leaving him in the wild.

I had actually kind of been wanting a turtle pet for years. They run wild in my area but i didn't want to grab an animal too accustomed to freedom. So i had been hoping for a baby. Also i'd rather avoid having animals shipped thru the mail.
Plus i felt a strong soul connection, and that he WANTED to be with me and had shown up for that reason.

He was just sitting there exposed on the red clay where any predator could nail him.

 

[CourtneyG]

What housing do you have him or her in?

 

[Loohan]

(cross-posted from original thread http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/baby-not-eating.109380/ )
Good news! There is some circumstantial evidence that little Rorg is eating again.
Yesterday morning he was not his usual frisky self during/after his soak. Like he had run out of gas. He still had those 4 live mealworms in his jar lid that had been there for days. Also i added a piece of ripe banana and a sliver of kiwi.
I checked yesterday afternoon, and he had tracked detritus into the lid and smooshed the fruit without eating any, but the worms were gone.
I cleaned the lid and put in 6 more worms. They were still there this morning. I gave him a long soak and played with him a bit, took some pics. Unfortunately i didn't catch his yawn (accompanied by a creaking sound as he closed his mouth). And put him back in the box. Just now i noticed he had tracked stuff into the lid again, and 5 of the 6 worms were gone. I just added 5 more, and another sliver of kiwi.

Also i have ordered a Reptisun 5.0 bulb (and a spare), a timer, and lamp for the bulb. I will get a big plastic tub. I already have a bunch of coir. When i get back from vacation i'll fix him up with a proper residence.

 

[Marty T]

He is awesome!
Keep posting pics.

 

[TortsNTurtles]

He is awesome!
Keep posting pics.

I agree. I want to see more pictures too.

 

[Dean Wirth]

mine only seemed like to grow at a little over a year, which is weird.