I have a 3 yr old female who is 12 inches,she is not growing,even if she eats like a hog. she had alot of problems when i got her,i rescued her,so im not counting on her growing much. she isnt too active,i fee dher outsid eof her cage in a dishpan, and the rest of the time she just basks and swims. the cage i have her in was an old rabbit cage i foun din the trash(proud picker!) it is about 4.5 ft high, 3 ft wide and 3 ft long.the way it is suppossed to be would be 4.5 ft long, 3 ft wide,3 feet high but i turned it on its side for her. i have a basking lamp,and since she is shedding now,i fill the bathtub up for her shallowly and let her play around. she likes to try to eat the bubbles the water makes when i splash her. The cage i have seems to be big enough for her,i have only had the prolbem of her squeezing herself through the bars, but i fixed that with some smaller mesh wire. good luck on your cage hunt.