Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anyone out there familiar with average growth rates of box turtles? Like how big one should on average be at 1 year, 2 yrs etc? any help is appreciated.

Growth rates can vary tremendously...a wild turtle will probably be much smaller that a captive of the same age, but even two captives can be very different sizes, depending on their appetites, how soon after hatching they begin to eat, what and how often they are fed, etc.

Thanks. I know growth rates can vary--I guess a better way of asking my question is what is a typical range of sizes for a box turtle at a particular age.

How can you tell if your boxie is too fat? i got a small ornate that i'm assuming is about a year old (about the size of a silver dollar). This little guy isn't active - hides all day in his box - and eats about 3 full size crickets every other day. I also give him a "salad" of grated carrots, apples, and zuchinni in his aquarium daily, which he doesn't eat. i was sprinking calcium and multivitamin on the salad, but he doesn't eat it - he only eats the crickets. he appears fat too me, especially from the rear end. His shell is also starting to curl up in the back - is this from lack of calcium? he is under a 26w UVB light every day, but since he hides in the box all day, i doubt he gets any benefit from it. too hot to put him outside - we live in phoenix. how much should he be eating? feed every day or every other day? He also soaks in the sink every morning. i've looked at care sheets on line, and there is lots of different opinions. I just want what's best for the little guy. Don't want him deformed, or overly fat. Thanks for listening to my long post, and hope you can help me out..