# What to expect from a baby (12 month old) Horsefield?



## RuthyBabey90x (Sep 12, 2011)

Hii All ...

The more i read on here, the little i realise i know and in fact the little i realise many petshops know about tortoises.
I am a first time tortoise owner and absolutely love both of my horsefields to bits  i have done much as much research as possible to provide the best food/environment/routine for them but i am concerned about my youngest tort.
I purchased both tortoises together ( and was told that one year old tortoises were okay to be housed with 3 year old torts, which i have learnt on here is not a good idea)
My older tort seems to be thriving; is very active, eats and drinks well, solid faeces, bright eyed etc.
My younger tort however just doesnt seem very active at all!!.. is this normal? He eats well unaided, drinks, solid faeces and apears bright eyed but is only active for very short periods. He would much prefer to sleep  .. I just dont know what im doing wrong. Pherhaps i am making to many comparisons between him and the older tortoise, but i just dont see how one can be so active and the other so sleepy 
Sorry if this all seems very dumb, but like i say im 100percent new to torts. Any advice would be much appreciated xxx


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## FinnTort (Sep 14, 2011)

Heya
I have 3 Russians myself. All of them seem to be very different from other - the youngest would only sleep, the middle one (about 5-yrs old) likes to take things slowly, and the biggest one (~9-yrs) is still active, though I'm trying to get them "calm down" for the winter. The biggest one is just awake and waiting for any kind of food to appear....

I would not worry too much about the 1-year-old. They seem to sleep a lot, and I know a case where Russian baby hatched at autumn, hibernated thru winter and now, when he's 1-year old, he is the same size as newborn. 

If he's eating and doesn't seem sick, I'd let him be.


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## lynnedit (Sep 14, 2011)

If you posted pics and shell size, experienced members could give you a better idea of actual age. Sometimes pet stores underestimate their ages. This way you could find out if you really have a very young tort or perhaps not.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/archive/index.php/thread-6948.html (how to measure the shell)
Yours sounds healthy, if he is eating, etc.
Also, I agree torts can have different activity levels and personalities. However, in some cases they can intimidate another tort (head bobbing, etc.) so it spends a lot of time hiding.


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## Laura (Sep 14, 2011)

the big one might bully the little one so he hides to avoid confrontation.

pictures?


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## RuthyBabey90x (Sep 14, 2011)

Hello all.. Thanx a lot for your replies! They've been a great help.. I'm gonna try and put some pictures on abit later, I attempted to last night but they wouldn't upload for some reason :/ probs the wrong file type.
My youngest ones shell is just under two and half inches in length whilst the older one is just under 3 and half inches in length... I will try and get some pictures on later as I'm sure it will be hard for your to judge based purely on measurements. If bullying is the issue.. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could diffuse the situation? I avnt got the room 4 2 separate vivs  xxx


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