PLEASE HELP!!!! (tort not growing)

[ben32hayt]

Hi I have a Red foot tortoise which is about 3 years old and is still the size of a baby tortoise and I have been feeding it tomatoes, kale, collard greens, cucumbers, dandelions, and very rarely melon, squash, bananas, and strawberries. In the winter I dust his/her food with calcium powder and leave a cuddle bone in the terrarium. The tortoise is kept outside for 4-7 months a year depending on the temperature in New York. I am desperate for my tortoise to grow larger and I am willing to make pellets or a mixture to give him/her a boost.
Thanks,
Ben

 

[Yvonne G]

RE: PLEASE HELP!!!!

Hi Ben:

Your tortoise is going to grow at his own rate. There's really not much you can do about it except give him the best care possible.

I have three YF tortoises that hatched here about 5 years ago. One of them is now big enough to permanently live outside with the big guys, but the other two are still the size of baby tortoises...well, not hatchlings, but about the size of 3yr olds. They all ate the same thing from the same feeding station. And when I noticed one growing bigger faster, I separated them, but the two smaller ones just don't grow as fast.

RF tortoises seem to like Mazuri tortoise diet pretty good. Have you tried offering Mazuri occasionally?

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

I second what Yvonne just said. I have little leopard tortoises and they are growing in different rates. Some will say that it is good for tortoises to not grow speedy fast, but I personally feel it is whatever their genetic make up is based on what I have read the experts, long term keepers say on TFO. Check out this thread. While they are sulcatas, these babies were all the same size once upon a time. Look at the difference in growth rates, but all beautiful:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-79383.html

 

[ben32hayt]

Hi Yvonne, thanks for the response. Since I have heard mixed opinions of feeding tortoises Mazuri tortoise diet I am reluctant to feed my tortoises it, especially my star. I do own about 10 pounds of it and occasionally use it. Do you feed your tortoises Mazuri?
-Ben

 

[mtdavis254817]

My sulcatas are like that. I bought the two that don't have sever pyramiding at the same time. The small one was even a couple of grams heavier than the big one. The one with the pyramiding was adopted and he grows slow as well

Sent from my HTC first using TortForum mobile app

 

[ben32hayt]

Hi I thought you guys might be interested in these pictures I took of my tortoises just now. These tortoise are both about the same age and two completely different sizes.

 

[oscar]

The tortoises I have that have grown the fastest have the most pyramiding.
So I feel that faster growth could lead to it.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

See? Toldja. Benjamin, they are both beautiful and they look healthy. I think it's okay, in my un-expertness. As I read about other species, the leopards, for instance, there is a lot of mix in the breeds. By mix, for instance, leopards from different ranges in Africa and perhaps that is what happens, one genetic make up takes over versus another and you get either bigger or smaller. Like Dean's sulcatas on that link. Those are all Sudan region sulcatas and yet look at the difference in sizes, like your little guys. One keeper wrote once, read on TFO, that eventually his slowest grower took over and became his largest tortoise. It was a leopard also. Are these related? Even so, I think this is normal unless the little one is being bullied by the big one. Have you seen any bullying between the two yet?

 

[ben32hayt]

No, I have never seen bullying between the two they both mind their own business and keep to themselves. I wanted to thank you guys for the advice and information. I am now reassured my tortoises are both healthy
-Ben

---

These tortoise are not related brut were bought from two different tortoise breeders at the same time.
-Ben

 

[mainey34]

Do you know for sure they are about the same age? And how much of an age difference is there? 6 months can make a difference..

 

[ben32hayt]

I am certain they were born with 3 months of one another because i bought one at 3 months olds and the other at 2 months in the same month.
-Ben

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Aha, different genetic lines more than likely. And the months difference on top of that. In reading what I have about red foots, again not an expert, there are different sizes in their various native lands. Here, for instance, is an interesting conversation from a few years back:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-7146.html