Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this really depends on soooo many different factors that it's probably hard to even guess but just to get a ballpark idea (I know others have gotten CB babies too recently), what would be an average growth rate for a small baby Russian or Hermanns each year? Could I expect 1/4" for the first year for my baby Hermanns who is currently less than 2" long and about 3 months old? Or am I way off on that?

Best guesses are welcome, maybe even some personal experiences.

Fred

You can expect alot more growth than a 1/4 inch on the Hermann's. When I got mine last March, he/she was barely larger than a quarter. Now he/she is a good 3 inches, almost fills the palm of my hand.

My russians have produced a number of hatchlings, but I've only kept one hatchling for more than a few months.

That one hatchling was close to 4" at one year and at 3.5 years it is almost 5". The growth rate after the first year has slowed considerably. He will probably reach 5.25 to 5.5 inches if he is like his father.

It's ben my experience that they grow like weeds in their 1st year.
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hi fred,

as has been mentioned, russians grow very rapidly in their first year and slow considerably after that.

if you go to russiantortoise.org and look through the files/database there are growth rates posted there. joe has a pair of twins that he's been posting growth rates for, they are now over a year old.

matt

n/p

My western hermann's was hatched June 30, 2005, I got him September 14, 2005.

So far his weights have been:
September 15 '05 : 45grams
October 18 '05 : 53 grams
November 9 '05 : 60grams

I don't have measurements though, I just take weights.