At four months old Hank should be near 200 grams. Most breeders don't start sulcatas correctly, so slow growth is not unusual, but I'd bet Hank is younger than four months.
Yeah that might be possible. He might be alot younger than I think which won’t be a surprise. I have three Russian tortoises. Two are a breeding pair and one is just a little baby I named Boris. Boris is 4 months old now and weighs a good 120g which I didn’t think was too bad. He doesn’t have an egg tooth. Check the photo to see size difference and Hanks egg tooth. Hanks shell is still very soft which leads me to believe he is younger. Still got and egg tooth. Let me know what you think.
Hi my baby is about 10 weeks and weighs about 60g so I think yours is younger.
Just for size comparison this is mine at 5 weeks , 35g .
Substrate is coco coir and reptibark. UVB T5 tube and a basking bulb 100w. I have a humidifier no longer aiming directly into the enclosure. Hank currently lives with my Horsfield and eastern Herman’s tortoise in their little enclosure. I got them all at similar times. I wake up at six and put them into soak for forty minutes whilst I get an exercise in. I then prepare food 10 minutes before the end of the soak and check on the plants outside. Once they are out I tour dry them, clear out watering dish, spot clean and then feed. I can hand feed both my tortoises I have been really lucky. Hank I managed to hand feed on the first day and he loves me to rub his head and scratch his butt lol. I got to school 8:30, come home 15:30, feed them a bit more and take them outside to roam. When I let them roam I just sit there and watch them I don’t do anything else. Bring them back inside. The thermostat will have turned off the lighting by that point and it is a nice sleepy time for them. Oh and on the weekends, I play chess with Hank. He beats me every time.
Wow that is definitely similar size. I would say Hank is eight weeks then maybe. How much does your 10 week weigh?
How is your baby’s shell so round! Hank has a more elongated shell.
She’s about 60g at 10 weeks , eats like a cow lol
Like us humans we are all different shapes and sizes too 😊
That is also under sized for a sulcata. Not terrible, but not what it should be either.
This is terrible. Species should never be mixed, and the sulcata requires very different conditions than the other two species. The Russian and hermanni need a cool down at night. The sukcata needs to be kept above 27C at night. How are you doing that?Tortoises should also never be kept in pairs.
This is also a bad idea that will eventually result in the loss of your tortoises.
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Just weighed her today she’s actually 70g so is piling on the grams. Best to let them grow at their own steady pace. No rush we have 130 years 😉
70 is better, but that is roughly half of what they usually weigh at that age when started correctly, and fed a weedy grassy diet. Add in Mazuri, and they grow even more.
She’s been fed masuri straight out of the egg along with a grassy diet, she has continued on masuri as I feed it regularly and she woofs it down as does she with the weeds/grass I grow for her until she goes out. I swap out the trays weekly for her as they are fast growing , she was 35g when I got her she’s double that now , I’ve had her a month. So I think I’m doing everything she needs. And correctly. After months of research and patience we found a breeder close enough for us to get one (8 hours away) and that breeder has done all the right things to bring her up correct food/temps/humidity, so kinda just shows even if they are brought on correctly from the start , they will still grow as fast as they want lol
You have a lot of misunderstandings. My goal is not to upset you, but to inform you. All of the research you did, and do, is all the old wrong info that has been parroted for decades. There is a HUGE problem with incorrect tortoise care info in the world, and most sources outside of this forum have not caught on to this sad fact.
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No I don’t house them together I just let them be by each other and interact during the day. They each have different enclosures. My Hermanns and russian live together because they are both testudo tortoises. They have the same diet and same humidity. My sulcata lives in his own enclosure but when I get home from school, I like to let them socialise as they are very friendly lol.This is terrible. Species should never be mixed, and the sulcata requires very different conditions than the other two species. The Russian and hermanni need a cool down at night. The sukcata needs to be kept above 27C at night. How are you doing that?Tortoises should also never be kept in pairs.
This is also a bad idea that will eventually result in the loss of your tortoises.
Please read this and make some changes ASAP:
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
There is a temperate care sheet for your Russian and hermanni, and a tropical care sheet for your sulcata at the bottom.
That’s why I’m here on this forum, to learn more like I said I’ve only had her 4 weeks so I want to raise her right, it’s the 5M21 and here in the UK it’s hard to come by , and expensive but none the less I’m getting it for her even if imported from states which I think I will have to do eventually. Advice is good. Thank you 😊You have a lot of misunderstandings. My goal is not to upset you, but to inform you. All of the research you did, and do, is all the old wrong info that has been parroted for decades. There is a HUGE problem with incorrect tortoise care info in the world, and most sources outside of this forum have not caught on to this sad fact.
If your tortoise is the size that it is, then it was not started correctly, or it has not been housed correctly. I suspect the former, but I don't really know how you are housing the tortoise or what your temps are. If it has doubled in weight while in your care, then I suspect you are doing things correctly, but the breeder did not, as usual.
If the tortoise was 35 grams when you got it month ago, why did it not grow at all while in the breeder's care for 6 weeks? They hatch at 30-35 grams. I had a some hatch at over 40 grams, the record being 44, but the norm was 30-35. This is after rinsing off the incubation media, but before allowing access to food and water. All of them, we are talking well over 1000 babies over a 12 year span, doubled their hatch weight in the first month. I know this because I always held them for at least a month and usually 6-8 weeks before selling, and I send a picture of them on the scale to each buyer as I pack them up for shipping. Do you see why I say something was wrong? Or not done correctly?
There are only a few breeders over here that start them correctly. I have yet to hear of a single one over there that does. They seem to still mistakenly believe that they are "desert" animals and need dry conditions.
Which type of Mazuri have you been feeding? LS, or the original 5M21?
If I have not infuriated and frustrated you, and you are wondering what in the heck I'm talking about, take a look at these threads for more info:
How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings
I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...
"Hatchling Failure Syndrome"
I've heard this term for many years and I don't like it. Its a way to excuse our ignorance and failure. I will agree that an occasional hatchling is born that is just not going to make it no matter what anybody does, but MOST of them, if they make it full term and hatch, SHOULD survive and...
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
My intention is to share what has been learned by me and others over the last 15 years about tortoise care, with the sole goal of improving tortoise care around the world. What you have read and been told elsewhere is largely wrong info. I want to give you the right info, and also explain why we KNOW it is the right info. I mean you no insult of any kind. Questions and conversation are welcome.
They are not being friendly and they should not be socializing together
