Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 2 year old red foot tortoise. It is about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long. Is this normal for this age. Should it be bigger? Is it big for its age? It turned 2 last summer. So its about almost 2 and a half years old. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I would say that if the growth appears normal, the weight of the animal is good, it is active and otherwise appears healthy that is is fine. You can get much faster growth but I have found that some pyramiding is unavoidable regardless of what they are fed.
This is a photo I took the other day of a 9 month old hatchling.
It has been fed a varied diet, been kept quite humid and exposed to full sunlight daily but it still exhibits some mild pyramiding. But, the growth over the past couple of months has been more normal and the pyramiding now seen will spread out as the animal grows. This is beacuse the tortoise has now become large enough to go in an outdoor pen-- it is 4 1/4" at 9 months of age. Although I do not like the 'bumpy' look that this young redfoot has at this age, it has also been my experience in over 23 years of raising my hatchlings, that it will appear very normal as an adult. In fact, it will look 'normal' by next year.

That's a very nice looking redfoot. Do you have any pics of the Dam and Sire?
CW

Don't have a photo of female in my computer right now but go to mayday's photos in the Photo Gallery and there is a picture of the male. He is listed as "Original Male" there. Also, this same hatchling is pictured there too as "March Hatchling".

Try increasing the temperature and humidity and feed... well... you know... and see what happens.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Hey man, this is south Florida. If I kept them any warmer they would boil. They are kept on a damp substrate in my orchid house, and they DIDN'T START getting bumpy UNTIL I STARTED feeding Mazuri. So much for THAT theory.

Can anybody reply to my message instead of talking about other things on my post.

Thanks

I don't think there is an answer because growth is highly variable. It all depends on what you are feeding and the conditions under which you are keeping the animal. I believe that if the animal is healthy in ever aspect... that is 'normal'.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Like I stated at the top and like EJ just said, if it looks OK and is otherwise healthy in appearance it probably is OK.
The point we were all making is that there is a lot of variation in captive raised animals. Some can grow much faster than others if they are given the opportunity and climate. The other points mentioned had to do with what the faster growth might look like.

I didnt mean to offend anybody if i did. I was really worried that he wasnt the right size. I just really wanted to know and didnt care for everybody talking about the picture that one of the people who replied posted. I just wanted my question answered. Now it is answered and a wanted to tell yall how much i appreciated it.

Thanks