Size/age of torts in reptile shop

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Chelsea

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I was at a garden centre today and they had a reptile section with Hermanns tortoises avaliable. The guy there (who seemed to know what he was talking about) said they were 4 years old - CB '06 - but they were the same size as my 2 year old (around 4 inches long) and way smaller than my 3 year olds (they're both around the 5/5.5 inch mark). They also had a Tunisian and a Leopard at 4 years old, and they were around the same size as the Hermanns they were selling.
Are my guys huge or were the ones in the shop tiny? I'm worried that I have 3 monster Hermanns! :shy:

All the torts I saw were active, smooth shelled and looked real healthy so I'm not worried about how they were kept, I was just shocked at the size differences!
 

Terry Allan Hall

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Growth can depend on how/what the tort is fed...I know a guy who feeds his 5-yo sulcatta everything he can (including a more-than-healthy portion of monkey chow 3 X a week!) and it's the biggest 5 -yo I've ever seen...easily 45#...otoh, "power-feeding" may shorten the life of a tortoise, and DEFINITELY does in the case of pythons/boas.

Others may disagree, but slower "average" growth is, IMABO, best...your's sound fine, possibly the larger end of 'normal', but not excessively so.
 
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