what should be the appropriate size of a yearling leopard tortoise

[Thomasstortoise]

i had this question for a long time, my leopard tortoise a very slow grower not only is he a slow grower but also a picky tortoise aswell he will eat escarole and endive but when i add weeds or hay he turns around and doesnt eat it
he started growing after a few months i have him for about 5 and a half months now, when i first got him he weighed 80-85 grams and 3 inches long now he weights 114 -117 grams and he measure 3.4 inches
so in conclusion how much should he weigh and measure at 1 years old

 

[Tom]

i had this question for a long time, my leopard tortoise a very slow grower not only is he a slow grower but also a picky tortoise aswell he will eat escarole and endive but when i add weeds or hay he turns around and doesnt eat it
he started growing after a few months i have him for about 5 and a half months now, when i first got him he weighed 80-85 grams and 3 inches long now he weights 114 -117 grams and he measure 3.4 inches
so in conclusion how much should he weigh and measure at 1 years old

They all grow at different rates and for a wide variety of reasons. Most breeders start them too dry, and this slows their growth tremendously if they survive. Most breeders also fail to introduce a wide variety of the right foods, so you have to spend months doing it.

Your baby made it past the 50 gram mark, so it will survive its slow start, but it is small for its age.

Most of the care info you find is wrong, and this doesn't help the growth rate. Here is the correct care info if you want your baby to thrive instead of just survive:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

To introduce new foods, you have to start slow and be persistent. Use only a tiny amount at first. Mince it up into tiny pieces and mix that in with a big pile of the old favorite foods. It will takes weeks or months for the tortoise to accept the new foods and get used to them.

 

[Thomasstortoise]

So your telling me he is to small for his age
Well,
I think its because its the diet and the temperatures
I chopped up many weeds and flowers i mixed it in with his favourites but he knows by smelling the food something is different and he just walks away and doesn’t eat it

The temps in the enclosure are
Basking - 91 degrees F
Cooler area is -72 degrees F

people told me he is just a slow grower his weight is good but size is small

 

[Thomasstortoise]

They all grow at different rates and for a wide variety of reasons. Most breeders start them too dry, and this slows their growth tremendously if they survive. Most breeders also fail to introduce a wide variety of the right foods, so you have to spend months doing it.

Your baby made it past the 50 gram mark, so it will survive its slow start, but it is small for its age.

Most of the care info you find is wrong, and this doesn't help the growth rate. Here is the correct care info if you want your baby to thrive instead of just survive:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

To introduce new foods, you have to start slow and be persistent. Use only a tiny amount at first. Mince it up into tiny pieces and mix that in with a big pile of the old favorite foods. It will takes weeks or months for the tortoise to accept the new foods and get used to them.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'll repeat what Tom said: Chop up the new food into very tiny pieces and add a BIT to foods he likes. Just a little bit. Then in a week you can add a bit more. You have to be smarter than the tortoise. You have to fool him.

 

[Tom]

So your telling me he is to small for his age
Well,
I think its because its the diet and the temperatures
I chopped up many weeds and flowers i mixed it in with his favourites but he knows by smelling the food something is different and he just walks away and doesn’t eat it

The temps in the enclosure are
Basking - 91 degrees F
Cooler area is -72 degrees F

people told me he is just a slow grower his weight is good but size is small

He's not "too small", he's just on the lower end of the growth scale. Diet and temperatures can surely have an effect, but a dry start is usually the main culprit.

If he's walking away and not eating, then you are using too much of the new stuff. Use less, and keep doing it for days on end. The tortoise will not starve itself. A hungry tortoise is not a picky tortoise. Don't cave so quickly, and use tiny amounts of the new stuff.

72 is much too cold. Keep the whole enclosure above 80 day and night.

 

[Thomasstortoise]

I'll repeat what Tom said: Chop up the new food into very tiny pieces and add a BIT to foods he likes. Just a little bit. Then in a week you can add a bit more. You have to be smarter than the tortoise. You have to fool him.

They all grow at different rates and for a wide variety of reasons. Most breeders start them too dry, and this slows their growth tremendously if they survive. Most breeders also fail to introduce a wide variety of the right foods, so you have to spend months doing it.

Your baby made it past the 50 gram mark, so it will survive its slow start, but it is small for its age.

Most of the care info you find is wrong, and this doesn't help the growth rate. Here is the correct care info if you want your baby to thrive instead of just survive:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

To introduce new foods, you have to start slow and be persistent. Use only a tiny amount at first. Mince it up into tiny pieces and mix that in with a big pile of the old favorite foods. It will takes weeks or months for the tortoise to accept the new foods and get used to them.

Ok well i do have a uvb light that is 24 watts i can get 39 watt one but i wont fit in the enclosure as it will be to big
So what should i use to get the enclosure to 80 F

 

[Tom]

Ok well i do have a uvb light that is 24 watts i can get 39 watt one but i wont fit in the enclosure as it will be to big
So what should i use to get the enclosure to 80 F

Its not about the wattage of the UV, its about the type of bulb you use.

Its all right here. Just click and read: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

 

[Thomasstortoise]

He's not "too small", he's just on the lower end of the growth scale. Diet and temperatures can surely have an effect, but a dry start is usually the main culprit.

If he's walking away and not eating, then you are using too much of the new stuff. Use less, and keep doing it for days on end. The tortoise will not starve itself. A hungry tortoise is not a picky tortoise. Don't cave so quickly, and use tiny amounts of the new stuff.

72 is much too cold. Keep the whole enclosure above 80 day and night.
[/QUOTE

They all grow at different rates and for a wide variety of reasons. Most breeders start them too dry, and this slows their growth tremendously if they survive. Most breeders also fail to introduce a wide variety of the right foods, so you have to spend months doing it.

Your baby made it past the 50 gram mark, so it will survive its slow start, but it is small for its age.

Most of the care info you find is wrong, and this doesn't help the growth rate. Here is the correct care info if you want your baby to thrive instead of just survive:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

To introduce new foods, you have to start slow and be persistent. Use only a tiny amount at first. Mince it up into tiny pieces and mix that in with a big pile of the old favorite foods. It will takes weeks or months for the tortoise to accept the new foods and get used to them.

So should i also chop his favorite foods into tiny pieces aswell and mic it or not

 

[Tom]

So should i also chop his favorite foods into tiny pieces aswell and mic it or not

You can if you want, but it works either way. The new stuff has to be in tiny pieces so it sticks to the old stuff. They eat it incidentally. Its as if you dropped the food on the ground and some debris stuck to it. Except our "debris" is finely chopped, minced up tortoise goodness that we are trying to get them to eat. Over time there is more and more "debris" as they get used to the smell taste and texture of the new foods. Eventually, they reach a point after you've done this for months on end with lots of different new foods that they just begin accepting everything. Well almost everything...

 

[Thomasstortoise]

You can if you want, but it works either way. The new stuff has to be in tiny pieces so it sticks to the old stuff. They eat it incidentally. Its as if you dropped the food on the ground and some debris stuck to it. Except our "debris" is finely chopped, minced up tortoise goodness that we are trying to get them to eat. Over time there is more and more "debris" as they get used to the smell taste and texture of the new foods. Eventually, they reach a point after you've done this for months on end with lots of different new foods that they just begin accepting everything. Well almost everything...

Ok thank you very much i will try that