What new growth looks like

[Meg90]

A lot of people don't know what to look for when looking for new growth on their young tortoises. I was taking pictures of Novalee today (because today she is exactly 4 months old) and her pretty little shell I thought, would be the perfect example for modeling new growth.

This is what it looks like:
The red outlined scutes her "original" scutes. Her baby scutes so to speak. When she was hatched, each of those scutes would have been touching each other.
Everything in between them now, is new growth.

For comparison, this is Novalee the second day I had her, at just over 6 weeks of age.

This is her today, at 4 months:

I'm happy as a clam that she is growing so smoothly. She's well on her way to becoming a beautiful Greek goddess!
She also tipped the scales at 66g and measured 2 10/16 inches (just over 2.5 in)

 

[dmmj]

That poor tortoise with those red marks is that some kind of a disease? lol J/K

 

[Yvonne G]

What a proud tortoise-mommy! Thanks for the pics and the explanation.

 

[Isa]

Thanks for the info Meg and really cute pics by the way

 

[Maggie Cummings]

She's just beautiful Meg. What a great job you've done...

 

[Kayti]

Novalee is so perfect! Jealous!

 

[Crazy1]

Meg, you are doing a great job with Novalee. What a beautiful little girl and such a proud mom with good reason. Plus nice lesson in new growth.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

A beautiful Reubenesque goddess! I smile every time I see her sweet Gerber-baby face.

What a great tort-keeper you are, Meg. I just hope hope hope that I'll be able to see some healthy growth on Taco's shell someday (assuming she has a bit of growing left to do)!

 

[sammi]

Beautiful!! =]

 

[stells]

It is good growth... but the keratin layers do look like it has started to "stack up" just a little... i would just keep an eye on it....

 

[Meg90]

You mean as in pyramiding? She isn't. She's smooth as a stone.

 

[stells]

Some tortoise grow and the new growth looks like ridges.... which if it keeps going and going can give a bumpier appearance as they keep growing... remember she is only little..

You can get it so the new growth is virtually ridge free and just carries on in the same line making it look almost completely smooth...

I hope that makes sense... and i wasn't picking i have some that have done the ridged thing... but most since i have done some tweeking have done the smooth look...

 

[Meg90]

She doesn't have the ridges though. That photo was taken from maybe 2 inches away. Its just an extreme closeup. But trust me, I have worked my butt off making sure she's smooth, and I would have noticed any ridges.

 

[stells]

Ok Meg...

 

[Meg90]

I get all grrr ovah my babies! Poor Noush has pyramiding that was my fault. I am trying my hardest with Nova now.

 

[stells]

I'm not saying that you are not... it was just friendly advice... i have grown up greeks from day one of keeping and tweeked things over that time...

Its also hard to tell from pictures... i have tortoises that look smoother in the hand than on pics that show up every minor detail...

 

[fhintz]

it's cute how she has the same expression/posture with her head just peeking out, like she's a little shy, but also flattered by the attention.

 

[Kymiie]

Thanks for this Meg really helped But one question..

Crush already has growth... as i didnt get him as a baby so how do i know if new one has grown? Should I count the little ring things?

Also is it true what people say..you can tell the age of a tortoise by the rings on its shell??
xxxx

 

[Kadaan]

Also is it true what people say..you can tell the age of a tortoise by the rings on its shell??
xxxx

Counting rings isn't a good indication of age. They do get more as they age, but the rate at which they appear isn't linear. For example, they don't really grow during hibernation so a tortoise who hibernates every year will have less rings than a tortoise who never hibernates, even if they're the same age. After many years it's too hard to count them anyway.

 

[moonraser]

Thanks for the pictures