Adult and baby size difference (with pic)

[drgnfly2265]

A tortoise group that I am apart of on Facebook posted this picture and I had to share it. And if anyone is looking into getting that cute little baby sulcata that they seen this will give them an idea of what they are getting into.

This is the discription that went with the picture - "Eight 4-day-old African spurred tortoises are placed on the back of their mother in their enclosure in Nyiregyhaza Animal Park in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, Sept. 27. This is the first time that offspring of an African spurred tortoise have been born in the zoo. The eight babies, which hatched after 115 days, were 2.2 inches long and weighed less than an ounce. The spurred tortoise is the largest species of land tortoises in Africa; the weight of an adult animal can reach 175 pounds."

I really love this picture

 

[GBtortoises]

Cool pic!

 

[jeffbens0n]

Very cool! 8 hatchlings fit into the area of two scutes!

 

[blafiriravt]

Wow :O Very impressive!

 

[AnthonyC]

Awesome comparison... It REALLY puts the size difference into perspective!

 

[dmarcus]

Very cool...

 

[jbean7916]

I love it!! I also love the little split scutes of some of the babies!!

 

[pdrobber]

At first I was thinking "they're all the same size which ones older I can't tell" then saw it.

 

[Claireabbo]

cool picture

 

[sulcatababies1402]

very cool! Im so glad i have the room for my garden dino's only 2 though! all other future torts will have to be of the small variaty

 

[Laura]

i want to see more!
3 of the hatchlings have abnormal scutes as well..

 

[Tom]

Its a neat pic, but it raises lots of questions for me.

Only eight babies out of a female that size?
115 day incubation? Normal is around 90-100.
How did they get split scutes if they incubated at a low enough temp to go 115 days?

Thanks for posting the pic.

 

[drgnfly2265]

Glad you all enjoyed

I wish they would have shown more pics too.

Its a neat pic, but it raises lots of questions for me.

Only eight babies out of a female that size?
115 day incubation? Normal is around 90-100.
How did they get split scutes if they incubated at a low enough temp to go 115 days?

Thanks for posting the pic.

Those are some interesting questions. What do the split scutes mean? Is it bad if they are incubated over their normal time? I guess it raises questions for me too now, lol. I know nothing about incubating tort

 

[Tom]

The exact answer is not known, but split scutes are often seen when incubation temps are on the high side. Occasionally they occur when the incubation temps were more moderate too, so a genetic component is suspected as well.

So when those eggs took longer than usual to hatch, I suspected a lower incubation temp.

The eggs hatch when they hatch. Usually temperature has a big impact on when they hatch, but only by a few days one way or the other. I've had "late" hatchers come out at 150 days and one at 162 days. All the other eggs in this clutch hatched at the normal 90 days or so i the same shoe box in the same incubator.

 

[drgnfly2265]

The exact answer is not known, but split scutes are often seen when incubation temps are on the high side. Occasionally they occur when the incubation temps were more moderate too, so a genetic component is suspected as well.

So when those eggs took longer than usual to hatch, I suspected a lower incubation temp.

The eggs hatch when they hatch. Usually temperature has a big impact on when they hatch, but only by a few days one way or the other. I've had "late" hatchers come out at 150 days and one at 162 days. All the other eggs in this clutch hatched at the normal 90 days or so i the same shoe box in the same incubator.

So will the split scutes stay split even when they are adults?

And wow, those are some really late hatchers! Are the late hatchers different in size in size than normal? Like are they larger because they have had more time in the egg?

Oh, and I've heard of people trying to determine what sex that they have hatch so they play with the temperature a little. Does that even work? The breeder that I got Bowser from said that I should have a male because the temps that the eggs were kept in were set so they would be males. And is that even safe when they play around with the temps like that?

 

[fbsmith3]

That photography is mindblowing.

 

[drgnfly2265]

That photography is mindblowing.

Agreed

 

[yarok]

3 out of 8 have split scutes. That seems odd.

 

[jesst]

Nice pic and I love the split scutes

 

[Tom]

So will the split scutes stay split even when they are adults?

And wow, those are some really late hatchers! Are the late hatchers different in size in size than normal? Like are they larger because they have had more time in the egg?

Oh, and I've heard of people trying to determine what sex that they have hatch so they play with the temperature a little. Does that even work? The breeder that I got Bowser from said that I should have a male because the temps that the eggs were kept in were set so they would be males. And is that even safe when they play around with the temps like that?

Sorry. I lost track of this thread. A baby with split scutes will always have them.

Late hatchers are usually the same size as the others. They just started developing later or had a break other middle of development.

Yes, the sex can be determined by the incubation temps, but it is not 100%. It is totally safe as long as you stay within a certain range. Roughly 84-90 degrees. I incubate mine at 88-89 to get mostly females, but I try to stay away from 90 because split scutes become more likely as the temps get higher.