Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a One Year old Sulcata and it is only about 3 1/2" long. Is this normal or should it be bigger? I know it has grown since I got it, but I havn't seen any other tortoises to compare it too.

Well when I bought my sulcata, it was displayed as a 6-month old tortoise at a reptile show. I have no reason to suspect they are lying, and my tortoise is the same size as what your describing(3.5-4"... so my initial response would be that yours is very small for its age. Either that or mine is alot older then suggested by the dealer....

They stretched the truth or gave him food that would possibly
make him grow larger quickly but isn't good for him. They may
have done this to make a 4 inch selling rule some place seem
to hold in effect. You can tell if he's been hurried into this
size if he's somewhat bumpy on his shell as opposed to very smooth
like a bowling ball. You have no reason to suspect they lied,
but there's no reason to believe it either. (I know of a lot
of blatant lies told at shows just to make sales, of course there
are always reputable exceptions.) There's no way to really make
an animal grow faster or slower unless an extreme like dog food
or cat food was used. Anyways, forget that, he's with you now.

My sulcata is approx 9mo to 1 year old and it is about 4" long as well.

hth
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Adam
http://anraviary.cjb.net
0.0 African Sidenecked, 0.0 Northern Diamondback Terrapin, 0.1 Redfoot, 0.1 Sulcatta, 1.0 Western Hognose, 1.0 Crested Gecko, 0.1 Mali Uromastyx

I have two one-year-olds.They are 3&3/4 inches and 3&7/8 inches.