stunting?

[Aubs1220]

The more I read and look at various growth patterns, the more I'm convinced that my girl is stunted due to her previous care. Granted, I don't know an exact age. She is (supposedly) at least 8 but can be as old as 15 or 20. She weigh approx 15lbs and is about a ft and a half shell length. (I have lost my tape measure in the abyss of my garage, and am having a hard time up loading a picture from the mobile app- there is a reference pic of her next to a russian and a horse feeder pan). Is she always going to be smaller? Or will she eventually catch up with correcting her diet?

 

[Yvonne G]

They usually have a growth spurt some time after they've been receiving better care. Have faith and be patient.

 

[Tom]

18" is not bad for an 8 year old female.

No one can really answer this. I wonder the same thing about my adults too. They are undersize for their age because back in the 90's I was told that the secret to preventing pyramiding is to grow them slowly by restricted food intake and eliminating protein as much as possible. (Hint: that is really NOT the secret...) So my boys are undersize for their age, and I'm always wondering if they will eventually catch up or be permanently stunted. They keep steadily growing, so I think they are going to catch up eventually. Only time will tell in my case, and your case too. I intend to just keep giving optimal care and see what happens.

 

[Aubs1220]

Awesome. Thanks guys. She's got a forever home with the best care I can provide. We will see what happens!

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Don't worry I have seen some bad cases of MBD and tortoises that just straight up werent taken care of at all and for the most part they all started growing relatively quick. This is mostly experience with sulcatas and they are kept outside all year long unless they are too small or catch a sickness.