Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The pic is of my little guy that I've had for over a year now and a Russian that a friend of my son brought over so they could play.

As far as we know they are both supposed to be 4 to 5yrs old. The little guy is about 15cm and 500 grams.

Is it unusual to see such a size difference? Am I feeding my little guy enough? From about now thru early November he eats mostly dandelions, pig weed and chickory that grow in his pen supplemented with rose leaves and hibiscus I give him and whatever else he finds while grazing. He also gets whatever salad greens and fruit the rabbits that share his pen leave behind. During the winter he gets store bought greens that I powder with calcium carbonate daily, and some fruit about once a week.

Any ideas? Thanks, Eric

Reasons for size difference:

1) Your estimates of age could be way off, and the larger one is considerably older. Without knowing when a tortoise is hatched, it can be very hard to estimate age based on counting rings or size.

2) They could be different subspecies or regional variants that do not have the same size potential.

3) The larger tortoise is getting a more growth inducing diet

4) Individual variation. Just as two humans can grow to be of vastly different sizes even though they are the same age and have the same diet and environment.

...is very common. I have examples in my collection of animals that out grow their group mates exponentially. I have one female redfoot that grows about .5" a year...very slow grower and I have one that is about 4x that... nearly 2" a year. Both smooth growers.

I wouldn't drive yourself nuts over this.

As long as the both torts have decent weight for their size. You can usually tell by picking them up. They should feel like they are full of water, not air.

If both are eating and showing signs of being healthy, continue doing what you are doing and let them grow smoothly and slowly if they need to.

Paul

Just out of curiosity, has the female been fed Mazuri tortoise diet and if so how much?

They do look like they could be the same age or there about but the female has a growth spurt that indicates that she has basicaly doubled in size in the last year.

It would appear that Russians are very efficient in processing the food they eat. So, if they get a rich diet they tend to put on some phenomenal growth. This is one tortoise where I actually recommend the restricting of food because it seems they are always hungry at the temperatures you normally keep a tortoise at.

There are also individual differences which can influence growth. I've noticed that my males do not grow as quickly as my females. The females tend to be bigger which allows them to be better competetors for food...

>>The pic is of my little guy that I've had for over a year now and a Russian that a friend of my son brought over so they could play.
>>
>>As far as we know they are both supposed to be 4 to 5yrs old. The little guy is about 15cm and 500 grams.
>>
>>Is it unusual to see such a size difference? Am I feeding my little guy enough? From about now thru early November he eats mostly dandelions, pig weed and chickory that grow in his pen supplemented with rose leaves and hibiscus I give him and whatever else he finds while grazing. He also gets whatever salad greens and fruit the rabbits that share his pen leave behind. During the winter he gets store bought greens that I powder with calcium carbonate daily, and some fruit about once a week.
>>
>>Any ideas? Thanks, Eric
>>
>>
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Actualy, they both are male. The owner of the big guy says all she feeds him is salad greens and fruit daily. I only give mine fruit every week or two as a treat. Maybe the fruit daily promotes rapid growth, but i've read that its not good to give desert torts to much fruit. Should I start adding more fruit to the little guy's diet? And if so, what kinds.

Thanks, Eric

That's really interesting. I wouldn't think that fruit would put on that kind of growth.

In the case of the russians, wouldn't suggest using any fruit besides berries and maybe apples and such on a sporatic basis.

>>Actualy, they both are male. The owner of the big guy says all she feeds him is salad greens and fruit daily. I only give mine fruit every week or two as a treat. Maybe the fruit daily promotes rapid growth, but i've read that its not good to give desert torts to much fruit. Should I start adding more fruit to the little guy's diet? And if so, what kinds.
>>
>>Thanks, Eric
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Dear Eric, are you sure they are siblings/same age? What a difference, hard to say...but I see considerable variation in my hatchling siblings, even 2 year olds. I would not increase fruit (I would decrease it...), that is not likely the primary factor in size variance. Your diet sounds good, but a couple of considerations. Some people would question Pigweed (Amaranthaceae) as a staple. Also, you mentioned cohabitating with rabbits. Many tortoises are coprophagous ("poop eaters"...is yours filling up on rabbit droppings and therefore has a very different diet than the larger tortoise? Although it is not uncommon for tortoise to ingest some animal feces, it is probably not a good steady diet...and a common source of parasite infestations. Try to vary and broaden the diet and cover the nutritional bases, although dandelions and other plants you offered (possible exception of Pigweed) sound fine. Diet is controversial, but most agree that variety is the way to go. Check out the Russiantortoise.org website for good information/forum on this popular species, including diet recomendations.