Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My two babies are growing but is this a normal rate? I purchased them in september and they weighed 39 grams for Nzuri and 47 grams for Tamu. they now weigh 172 grams for Nzuri and 146 for Tamu. Tamu is much more active but both eat well. Does this seem about right to you Tort experts? They get veggies, grasses, greens, uva/uvb light, heat and calcium and vitamins. Am I overlooking anything? Thanks!

>>My two babies are growing but is this a normal rate? I purchased them in september and they weighed 39 grams for Nzuri and 47 grams for Tamu. they now weigh 172 grams for Nzuri and 146 for Tamu. Tamu is much more active but both eat well. Does this seem about right to you Tort experts? They get veggies, grasses, greens, uva/uvb light, heat and calcium and vitamins. Am I overlooking anything? Thanks!

I'm not an expert but I have experience with sulcata.
From all I've learned normal growth is taking place when they grow in a healthy way and there is no pyramiding.
There doesn't seem to be any set pattern of growth for them, in the wild they grow slowly based on seasons & the availability of food.
In captivity it seems growth patterns can vary wildly but it doesn't really seem to matter how slowly or quickly they grow as long as it's healthy growth.

In the beginning when we took ours in she weighed 9lbs and was extremely pyramided.
I read everything I could get my hands on about her, everything I read said they grow slowly. Once we had her we corrected her diet. I expected that once she was on the proper diet then she would grow slowly and I expected to be able to carry her around by myself for several years.
WRONG!
LOL
Our region is similar to the sub-desert region that they come from in Africa, their diet should consist of 70-75% grasses then 25-30% of other items. Because we have a lawn full of Bermuda grass and weeds she's been able to graze as she pleases, we seldom feed her anything bought from a store. The Bermuda is dormant at the moment but she'll eat it anyway. The weeds are seasonal so they are always there, they just aren't the same species of weed from one season to another.

Well, by the time she'd been here for 2 years I could no longer lift her by myself. She's now 55 or more lbs, I need to get her on a scale again soon, it's been 10 months since we've had her on one.
In the begining people on sulcata groups I'd joined told me not to over feed her, make sure she has hay, do this do that.. but since most of them are in northern states I don't think they understood how similar our region is to her natural habitat.
A zoo curator I know told me no, you are doing this just right, leave her to graze as you are doing. So I did, then I met my vet who's new to this area, since I met her she's told me more than once that our Destiny is her most healthy sulcata patient.

I have no control over how much she eats because she has a whole lawn to graze whenever she wants to. She won't eat hay because we have a growing lawn for her to graze, who wants dry hay from the feed store when you have a living pasture to graze? The Bermuda is dormant in winter she will eat it that way so what's the diff between that & a bale of Bermuda hay from the feed store?
In 3 & 1/2 years her color has changed to be what it should be, the appearance of her pyramids has diminished, her skin is a gorgeous shade of yellow. She has grown so huge so quickly that it's blown me away but it's ok because it's healthy growth.

My point here is don't get too hung up on the speed that they grow, be hung up on how healthy that growth is and they should do just fine.
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PHRatz

Thanks for the input. My little guys are still baseball size so I'll just keep watching and feeding and hope I'm on track. Is there many toxic weeds to worry about with grazing? I live on the Oregon Coast so its too soggy thru a good part of the year but when the sun comes out we get great plant growth. I do not intend to keep my torts outside all day because of our damp climate but I want them to take advantage of our "dry" season and play outside during the daytime. We also have a bumper crop of racoons so I'm conserned about them after dark even if they were big. Our racoons can be huge!!! I am a bit envious of your climate as far as herps go, Oregon's great for frogs and salamanders but kinda soggy for others outdoors. LOL Thanks again for your advice. Best to you and your critters.

>> Is there many toxic weeds to worry about with grazing? I live on the Oregon Coast so its too soggy thru a good part of the year but when the sun comes out we get great plant growth.
I have found some toxic plants in our yard & had to yank them out of the ground. I bought two Peterson's Field Guides, one on regional plants/weeds and the one on poisonous plants.
Those books have been a life saver, we have 3 different types of spurge that grows in the lawn, the books states all spurge is poisonous. We have silverleaf nightshades too, all nightshades are poisonous so I had to go out & dig them up by hand to get rid of them.
I'd highly recommend these type of field guides to ID toxic plants.

I do not intend to keep my torts outside all day because of our damp climate but I want them to take advantage of our "dry" season and play outside during the daytime. We also have a bumper crop of racoons so I'm conserned about them after dark even if they were big. Our racoons can be huge!!! I am a bit envious of your climate as far as herps go, Oregon's great for frogs and salamanders but kinda soggy for others outdoors. LOL Thanks again for your advice. Best to you and your critters.

ACK but see.. we seldom get to see an amphibian. I envy you for being able to live around all those amphibians. We have Couch's spadefoot toads here & some other toads that I haven't ID'd & that's just about it as far as wild amphibinians go.
I've love to see a wild salamander!
We also have wild predators such as grey fox that can get inside our yard but our tortoise weighs more than they do so I don't worry too much about them. lol
If she was a little one, she'd be living indoors with supervised outdoor trips.
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PHRatz

Thanks, I'll try to get a copy of the book you suggest. A bit off the tort subject but we have a great many wild varieties of salamanders and frogs. I have to use care when bringing wood inside because it seems like someone's living under most of them. We see lots of rough skin newts and I'd say I have at least 5 or 6 other varieties living in the yard. We have lots of small frogs too but they are harder to find(easy to hear though)!
It is kinda fun living around amphibians. Oh yeah the oceans pretty awesome too!

>>Thanks, I'll try to get a copy of the book you suggest. A bit off the tort subject but we have a great many wild varieties of salamanders and frogs. I have to use care when bringing wood inside because it seems like someone's living under most of them. We see lots of rough skin newts and I'd say I have at least 5 or 6 other varieties living in the yard. We have lots of small frogs too but they are harder to find(easy to hear though)!
>>It is kinda fun living around amphibians. Oh yeah the oceans pretty awesome too!

That does sound awesome! I've never seen a wild salamander or newt, not here anyway. The toads we do see only come out when it rains which isn't very often so we might see one once a year. More often than not if we see one it's because it's accidentally been dug up. If you leave them alone though you can watch them burrow themselves back underground.
We see lots of box turtles, horned lizards, whiptail & prairie lizards, skinks, & snakes but not amphibians very often.
There's always an up side & a down side to every region.
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PHRatz

I got my baby sulcata at the end of October and he weighed 54 grams...weighed him today and he's at 132 grams.

I don't notice that he's grown that much since I see him everyday, but when friends come over that haven't seen him in a month so, they are amazed at how big he's gotten.

I am happy to read your message. My Sulcata Gaga weighed 68 grams last September and now it weighs 144 grams, about a double in half a year. So the growth rate is about the same as yours and Weebeasties'.I feel relieved!

Gaga has been kept on a high-rise building here in Hong Kong. It has never been fed with grass of any sort, only with vetgetables plus some canned tort food.

While I am not worrying for its present health, I do feel concerned for its future when it grows up --- it has only a space (actually the balcony) of about 1 meter times two meters for life! (I have been misinformed of the size it will grow to!)

What is the way out?