Size question

[kjphoto04]

I have a 3 year old that Im wondering if he is the right size for his age?
He is 408 grams and 5 inches long.

 

[Laura]

Size doesnt matter...

I think that is a bit small for a 3 year old.. but they all grow at different rates.
what is the diet? indoors or out?

 

[Tom]

That is pretty small. I have a three year old that barely grew at all in her first two years due to dry conditions when she hatched. She sprouted quite a bit this last year and is still pretty small for a three year old at a little over 2000 grams.

By contrast, my one year olds are on the faster-growing end of the spectrum at over 500 grams now.

 

[dmmj]

Size doesn't matter...

That is what I have always been told
Seriously I would not worry as much about size as I would as healthy growth. If it is eating and not losing weight then I would not worry to much. Of course a parasite check couldn't hurt either, just to be on the safe side.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum, not much more I can add, but knowing the diet and what conditions your Sulcata is being kept would help

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Kjphoto04:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we know your name and where you are?

 

[yagyujubei]

If you would post a good picture, we can tell you more. Are you sure about the age? If it is a 3 YO, then it is extremely small, as to why, it is only conjecture until we can see what he looks like. There are several factors which could result in this. What do you feed him, and how much?

 

[kjphoto04]

My name is Kristen and I live in MA so Larry only gets out during the summer. During the winter he is inside. I feed him all different kinds of dark leafy greens, orchard grass and timothy hay and occasionally mazuri tort diet. I did get him from a breeder 3 years ago and he was a little bit bigger that a quarter. I will work on getting a pic!

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Sorry about the pix I had to use my phone. He also would not come out because he knew I was going to use flash! lol

 

[coreyc]

He does look small for a three year old What kind of light are you using ? can you post a pic of your setup? I would get some cactus for him to eat it will help with his calcium in take

 

[yagyujubei]

Personally, I would start to feed Mazuri daily. Actually, he looks OK, just small. But if someone asked me how old he is, I would've guessed under a year.

 

[Tom]

Yep. He looks good just small. If you want us to go over everything you are doing to see if we can discover possible causes, just give us the details of your set-up.

 

[kjphoto04]

I have him in a 4X8 on a bed a beast mix. I give him cuttle bones to chew on for calcium and I also dust his greens. He has a hide on the hot and cool end but he mostly hangs out in the hot side. I have a water bowl with a ramp that he is able to get in and out of.
I have a 100 watt bulb for heat (dont remember the brand) and a reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb.

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Wow he is small - but look how smoooooth he is. Nice!

 

[Fernando]

Cool photos! He looks great.

 

[ADVANceNA]

hey kristen ! larry looks great but a small for a 3 yr old i must concur. his shell is smooth and looks good. one question, is that reptisun 10.0 UVB buld a coil type bulb ? the reason i ask is that those bulbs can hurt torts eyes. I definitely know they can damage a hatchling and yearlings eyes, even cause blindness, but im not sure about older torts. To play it safe i would change out that bulb and try and find a 125w or 160w(since his enclosure is bigger) MVB bulb. It provides wattage for heat and adequate UV-A & B rays for them to grow nicely. exo-terra and zoomed are good manufacturers. everything else sounds good though in terms of his diet.

oh yeah, welcome to the forum ! there are a lot of knowledgeable experienced people here. i hope you enjoi reading all the different articles !! let us know if you have any questions, we're all pretty crazy about providing excellent conditions to make our shelled family members happy !

 

[coreyc]

Can you post a pic of your setup so we can check it out? an Loss the coil bulb go with a Powersun

 

[kjphoto04]

It is not a coil buld. I will post pix soon.
Thanks

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Here they are.

 

[NEtorts]

My name is Kristen and I live in MA so Larry only gets out during the summer. During the winter he is inside. I feed him all different kinds of dark leafy greens, orchard grass and timothy hay and occasionally mazuri tort diet. I did get him from a breeder 3 years ago and he was a little bit bigger that a quarter.

...........................................................................................

Hi Kristen, I live in New England too and from MY experience for my Sulcata, he looks great... mine too grew very slow for the first few years....healthy, but slow, I forget exactly but I will look at my growth chart and post it for you to compare....im guessing he was smaller than yours at 3 yrs old.....now he is 9 and weighs over 35 lbs and is awsome! very strong, not perfectly smooth but not pyrmided by any means....here is a pic of him last week

he will grow much more in summer when he is outside grazing ALL DAY

I dont remember his age but there was one summer when I weighed him in April at about 5 1/2lbs and in october he was 11!!!! i couldnt believe it and he really hasnt slowed down much since.......
we dont grow them as fast as a southern climate but does tat make them any less healthy? i think not, some may dissagree, im sure if i were in FL or AZ he would be 75-80lbs but im not so sure he would be any healthier........................................

 

[kjphoto04]

With him being much bigger what do you house him in in the winter? I thought about a heated shed on a large section of the basement. (this would be much further down the road)

 

[Jacob]

Looks Very Small For Age!
Yet All Grow At Different Sizes