Sulcata growth chart (on average)

[TiyahLove]

I've been looking through the forum to find something about the general growth rate for sulcata tortoises and I haven't found anything except updated pictures of adult sulcatas. I want to know what the average growth of a sulcata is. For example a month old sulcata to a two month old sulcata is 2-2.5 inches, and so forth. Can anyone help me out with this? I want to know 1: so I can have a time frame of when I need to start assembling a tortoise friendly pen outside and 2: because I want to know if my babies are growing on track and are around the appropriate size.

 

[lighthiker2]

The best compilation I have seen is this spreadsheet... Somewhere from this forum, I believe. I have not found that there is a normative standard for these creatures' growth patterns due to environmental factors. Thus, I am modeling my own after it for future reference.

(From 6-9mo, my sully went from 4-5.5" and 230-332 g)

 

[Tom]

There is no meaningful average. Some of them hardly grow at all, due to a variety of factors including a poor, dry start in life or being housed too cool or too dry, poor diet, etc. Others grow at a pace that could be called alarming. Because of this any "average" is meaningless. I have seen 6 year olds that are 4" and weigh a pound and I have seen 6 year olds that are 26" and 80 pounds.

If you have a well started baby, house it correctly (simulating the african rainy season that wild ones hatch into), and feed it well, it should be in the neighborhood of 6-7" and 800-1000 grams at one year. If it was started or housed dry, it will likely be substantially less than that.

My advice is to not worry too much about this. Just give your babies optimal care and do your best to keep them healthy. They will grow however fast they grow.

To answer your questions:
1. You should have had this before your babies ever came home. I like to put hatchlings out for an hour or so of sun, grazing and exercise from day one. There are many ways to safely do this. There are links in my signature and we had this great thread the other day: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-82094.html
Just keep enlarging the area as needed.
2. I think this is well covered above. Shoot for good health more than worrying about size.

I'm on a small screen, but it looks like I only see two tortoises in your avatar photo. If this is the case, I think it is a mistake. Neither tortoise will be happy with this arrangement and one will likely suffer more and grow much less. In time you will see this. They tend to do well in groups of 3 or more, and they tend to do well alone. At least one does not tend to do well when housed in a pair. If you only have two, I would house them separately, or get a third of similar size. Here is a more detailed thread on that:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-34837.html

Good luck. Hope this helps and keep asking lots of questions.

 

[TiyahLove]

Tom, my backyard is fenced in but I need to work on tortoise proofing it. Plus right now is the cooler time of year (20-70 degrees) and I don't exactly feel comfortable letting them outside just yet. I want to build something that keeps the babies in a secure environment where I can watch them closely and make sure they are okay as they are my babies. Until I can let them out in the yard I have a powersun 100watt UVB bulb that I use for about 6 hours a day (to me it's a little drying so I make sure that they get sprayed several times while they're soaking up some rays along with a 20minute soak afterwords to give them some extra hydration)
Along with this, they have started eating mainly grasses! YAYYY! I mix up some collards with a little bok choy making up about 1/3 of their meal and the rest are fresh grasses chopped very finely and mixed in the greens, and they absolutely love it

 

[Dizisdalife]

Today my 3 1/2 year old sulcata lives outside and has free roam of the backyard. He is about 18 inches long and weighs 35lbs. When he was just 3.5 inches long I built a 4' x 8' outdoor enclosure using cinder block. It had a wire mesh cover for protection and a hide for shade. I would take him out on sunny days for exercise and exposure. Usually he would stay outside for an hour or so. The rest of the time he was housed in a closed chamber (mostly closed) indoor enclosure. Within 6 months I had to expand that pen to be 4' x 12'. It still had a cover for protection and shade. He would spend most of the day in that pen and come inside at night. About every 3 to 6 months since then I have had to expand or modify his outdoor pen to accommodate his growth and changing needs. When he was just over 2 years old (10.5 inches long and about 12lbs) the pen was expanded to be 15' x 20'. I built the first heated night box for him and he moved outside for good. For the next year he got more and more free roam time as I improved the yard by adding barriers and planting food for him.

I don't know if this is average or not. It just seems to me that from hatchling to adult the planning and rearranging of their pen is an ongoing project. If you're not building something (or rebuilding) then time is spent planting. Or, you spend time building something to plant things in. Or, you spend time finding things to plant in the thing that you built to plant things in. I am just grateful that the Forum is here to help me with all this.

 

[Tom]

Tom, my backyard is fenced in but I need to work on tortoise proofing it. Plus right now is the cooler time of year (20-70 degrees) and I don't exactly feel comfortable letting them outside just yet. I want to build something that keeps the babies in a secure environment where I can watch them closely and make sure they are okay as they are my babies. Until I can let them out in the yard I have a powersun 100watt UVB bulb that I use for about 6 hours a day (to me it's a little drying so I make sure that they get sprayed several times while they're soaking up some rays along with a 20minute soak afterwords to give them some extra hydration)
Along with this, they have started eating mainly grasses! YAYYY! I mix up some collards with a little bok choy making up about 1/3 of their meal and the rest are fresh grasses chopped very finely and mixed in the greens, and they absolutely love it

Fencing is good to keep other animals and people out, but a visual barrier will be needed if your fence is see through. For babies you don't need the whole yard yet. Just a 4x8' section with some walls and a screen cover will do. Many ways to accomplish this. Sunshine is very good for them. If its sunny, not breezy and the ground is warm, 70 is fine for an hour or two. Get a temp gun and check the ground temp and tortoise's carapace temps while they are outside.

Your babies need a heat source for 12 hours a day. If the MVB is too big and hot for your application, get a smaller flood bulb and use a florescent tube with it for UV and lighting. Don't let the pet store talk you into a coil type cfl bulb. The problem is NOT fixed, and they still occasionally burn reptile eyes. Safer to not use them. What are you using for night heat?

Bok choy and collards are good foods, but they should not be fed daily. Endive and escarole are much better as regular staples. Here is a diet sheet: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-76744.html

Here is a cae sheet that I typed up for housing them:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-79895.html

I hope you will read these links, and the ones in my signature, and I hope they help you.

 

[TiyahLove]

I'm using heat bulbs and a heating pad at night, then a powersun during the day. I don't use the coil type bulbs (I have a blind red eared slider that someone gave me because they couldn't figure out why it wasn't eating and was slowly dying. All is better now though just some extra care) so I don't use the coil bulbs.
The type of bulbs I use at night are zoo meds infrared/indecent bulbs (not sure the exact name, but I've been using them for years with my snakes and skinks with no eye problems and it doesn't disturb their sleep pattern. Should I change this to a heating pad at night instead of the bulbs?

 

[franz_see]

@TiyahLove I know this is an old topic, but if I may be so bold, I would say that most sulcata hatchlings grow at about 5-15% per week. However, if you've recording your little one's growth, I would like to request for it so that I can add it to my collection [1] and do some very rough analysis [2] for you Also, the bigger this collection becomes, the better picture we'd be able to paint

Thanks!

[1] http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tortoise-growth-charts.113321/
[2] it's very rough since not much is known about their growth rates, and there's not much data to analyze as of yet

 

[Zeko]

Sulcata Weights:

Bought Oct 19th, two weeks old
Oct 20 2014 - 54 Grams
Nov 03 2014 - 66 Grams
Nov 24 2014 - 97 grams
Dec 1 2014 - 103 grams
Dec 14 2014 - 129 grams
Dec 20 2014 - 145 grams
Jan 15 2015 - 177 grams
Feb 01 2015 - 200 grams
Feb 21 2015 - 257 grams

 

[mushmouth26]

Here is my spreadsheet.
Sriracha and Funyun are sulcatas. Cheeto is a leopard. Cilantro is a redfoot.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yWg7ZyVc6zN9SCr2fCRXJlPU1wFlhjttoSUXA84ckFc/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Odin's Gma]

I started this a few days ago, I updated again this morning:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9YAmY-RgaGjQXFiNm5LblFBVTA/view?usp=sharing

 

[franz_see]

Thanks @mushmouth26 , I've added yours in http://bit.ly/tortoise-growth-charts

Specifically, they' are :

• Mushmouth26's Cheeto
• Mushmouth26's Funyun
• Mushmouth26's Sriracha
• Mushmouth26's Cilantro
• Mushmouth26's Mango

Thanks

 

[surfergirl]

Just joined and my 20 year old sulcata "Debit" weighs 100 lbs. He is housed outside yr round in atlanta.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

My 20+ year old sulcata, Dudley, weighs 110lbs. He seems to be stuck there, as he's been that weight for a few years now. I'd love to see pictures of Debit.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. I'm going to go out on a limb and fathom a guess that you aren't surfing much in Atlanta… Am I wrong?

 

[surfergirl]

Hahaha, nope not much action unless i am pulled by a boat. We trip whenever we can. we have learned much about weather, wind and swells so we don't get skunked.

 

[DeanS]

This thread has been the most constant at updates...and the subject is ideal! Great work @Maro2Bear

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...ing-sunshine-lunch.94300/page-12#post-1256446

 

[Maro2Bear]

This thread has been the most constant at updates...and the subject is ideal! Great work @Maro2Bear

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...ing-sunshine-lunch.94300/page-12#post-1256446

Thanks!

 

[Mortis_thetortoise]

Hahaha, nope not much action unless i am pulled by a boat. We trip whenever we can. we have learned much about weather, wind and swells so we don't get skunked.

florida gulf life. i feel ya

 

[Maro2Bear]

Just added a few more weight updates and pix to my long standing thread and pretty much weekly updates for the last 2.5 years. Right at about 34 lbs now at 2.5 years.

Here's our Sully out for his lunch snack of fresh dandelion.