Would this be considered a good growth rate?

[SunnySideUp]

Ever since I bought my food scale I've been keeping track of Pumpkin's growth by weighing him approximately once a week and recording it. Here is his growth:

6/06/14 - 94g
6/16/14 - 102g
6/23/14 - 106g
6/28/14 - 110g
7/03/14 - 116g

Pumpkin has also grown just shy of a centimeter longer (SCL) since the beginning of June. Does it seem like he's growing enough? Too fast? Too slow? Thank you for your imput.

 

[THBfriend]

Pumpkin is about one year old, right? I can't tell you what weight and size is "right", because there probably is no single answer. I've seen different sources say different things about how much a Hermann's tortoise is supposed to grow per year. Though in my experience, 100g is quite a hefty weight for a one-year-old.

My tortoises reach that weight only after two or three years. I have a tortoise at the moment, for example, which will turn two years in a few days, it always grew very slowly and only now got to 55g. That's a bit on the low side, but still within tolerance. I posted a graph here of some of my other tortoises. As I wrote there, I'm trying to slow down their growth these days, because in my experience, they develop nicer and smoother that way. It is difficult, though. Young tortoises are apparently always hungry and they want to grow as quickly as possible, because the bigger they are, the safer they are from predators.

Anyway, as long as Pumpkin doesn't lose any weight, he's probably growing more than enough. Pretty much all pet Hermann's do grow fast than their wild kin.

 

[SunnySideUp]

If his growth is too rapid and he is a bit heavy for his age, should I do something to try and slow down his growth? Typically what I feed him is a blend of spring mix (minus the spinach), red and white clover, broadleaf and ribwort plantain, dandelion greens, thistles, chicory, chickweed, and a few other weeds from a tortoise seed mix whose names I can't recall. I also include one or two other grocery greens in his "salad" that I swap out once a week, such as kale, mustard greens, brussel sprouts, bok choy, etc. Do you think it would be benfitial if I tried to incorporate some sort of hay into his diet for more fiber?

 

[THBfriend]

You don't have to put him on a diet, but if you could get him to eat hay, that would most likely help. Hermann's don't eat grass hay, as far as I know, but you can make your own hay from dried plantain, dandelion, etc. Unfortunately, it can still be difficult to get them to eat it. My adult female eats hay voluntarily now, but the male and young ones are spoiled and mostly avoid it as long as they can. I usually sprinkle some hay on their fresh food, that way they're forced to eat a bit and hopefully get used to it better. During the hot summer months, when they would only find dry food in the wild, I don't give them fresh food daily. They have access to hay all day, but get fresh and juicy plantains, dandelions, thistle, etc. only every second or third day.

 

[tortoisetime565]

They ask grow at different rates. The first time I weighted my red for he was 50.38g the next week he was 47 g the third week he was 58g. So it fluctuates and varies.