Just curious what everyone else is getting as far as growth rates for russians. I assumed they were supposed to grow slowly, but all of mine are growing quickly. Two of them are growing a solid 1/4" per month, and the new baby is following suite.

Is this normal for russians? The baby that I bought in november of last year has gone from 1.5" to 4.5", my female that I rescued in june this last summer was about 5.5" shell length, and it appears as though she had been that size for a while. Now she's about 6.75", within the next two months I expect her to be 7". My big female has been holding strong at 8.25" since I got her, and I don't expect her to grow (she has been in the U.S. at least 8 years, and I haven't seen a russian larger than her). My new little baby that I hatched out (daughter of my giant russian, and a very small male that she bred with before I got her) started out a month ago at approximately the size of a quarter, and he's already grown noticeably.

I feed everyone as much as they care to eat, and they take advantage of that. Everyone has access to various basking areas, some in excess of 150 degrees f surface temperature (and yes, they use it), and they are kept in closed enclosures to help keep heat and some humidity in. They don't exhibit pyramiding. They are all doing great.

I've only been at this about a year, and wanted to know if this is normal or not. I was also curious about the growth rates of other peoples' russians here.

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