Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How big should an average 1 1/2 to 2 year old hermanns tortoise be? I was in a reptile store the other day and they had hermanns tortoises that were supposedly only a few months older than mine, but they were huge. They were like 4 or 5 inches long. Eli is 2 1/2 inches and 90grams. I was just wondering if Eli is smaller than he is should be? He will be 2 on June 30th.

Hi. I haven't bred Hermann's Tortoises myself, but have bred many Stars, Radiateds, and other tortoises over the years. One year old Radiateds are around 3"-3.5" and the same goes for Burmese and Sri Lankan Stars. Two year olds are 4"-5" and more in those species, but they are larger as adults, too.

Your tortoise may be just a bit small for its age, but the ones in the pet store seem very large for the ages they are describing to you. Do you think the ages they stated are correct? Also are theirs the same subspecies as yours? One type of Hermann's is much smaller than the other. Maybe that could be part of the difference.

Maybe some Hermann's Tortoise breeders could chime in with average sizes for one and two year old offspring they have raised and shed more light on this question.

Thank you for replying. I don't know if the ones at the store are actually the age they say they are. They are horribly pyramided and just don't look good. Tortoises there never do. I never buy anything from them, I just go to look. They also have some very deformed box turtles.

I've been thinking my guy was a bit on the small side, but maybe now that spring is here his growth will pick up.

I bought him as a western hermanns but don't know if he really is.

Hi. Well, the Western subspecies is the smaller of the two, so that may also be part of the explanation. The pet store may have the Eastern subspecies. However, the fact that theirs are deformed may also indicate rapid growth due to improper diet (probably excessive protein if diet is the reason rather than lack of humidity).

If you send me a couple of pictures of your tortoise, I will try to identify its subspecies for you. Send a photo of the carapace as well as the plastron, as Western Hermann's are supposed to have two dark lines running down the plastron.