Angulate Hatchlings

JeannineD

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5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
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54
Location (City and/or State)
Garden Route, South Africa
View attachment 225856 View attachment 225857 View attachment 225858 View attachment 225859 View attachment 225861 View attachment 225856 View attachment 225857 View attachment 225858 View attachment 225859 View attachment 225861 it is a well known fact that animals in captive situations grow much faster. But I didn’t even imagine a 300% escalation!!! WOW !!! This is a major eye opener!! As far as the color I think it is reigeional. I have found out that some that come form the Karu National park (hope I spelled it correctly) area are extreemly dark and almost black, the southern cape they are much lighter.
This hatchling was dark when it was born. Here are some pics over the past year.
What a little beauty! The Karoo, as you probably know, has a completely different climate. Desert like, extremely hot and dry. We are separated from the area by the Outeniqua mountains, which trap the rain. If not for them we would be pretty desert like too.

So very interesting about the growth in captivity. I never knew that. Like you, I am pretty astounded at the difference. We thought Otis was quite a big guy at 70 grams. Little Winston would get sand kicked in his eyes! I have just seen him eating a hibiscus, his legs are like twigs compared to your girl's. Really interesting stuff, it is so great we have 3 torts born in the same month, on opposite ends of the earth, I am sure we can discover lots of fascinating info.

I weighed another one today too, probably about 2 and a half years old, she weighs 150grams.
 

kingsley

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Nov 18, 2012
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191
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Arizona
Sorry I have been off the forum for some time, love to see a pic of the 2 1/2 year old ,
 

kingsley

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Nov 18, 2012
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191
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Arizona
E3905DCE-ACC9-478C-9584-5F97BAE37322.jpeg H
Here is another female that is under my care for the past 1 1/2 years. Jeanine , in your opinion how old do you think she is ? She was imported in 2016 and her growth is slow and steady.
 

CarolM

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Oct 30, 2017
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19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
And here they are about a month ago. Both times they are pictured in my teenage son's hand, to give you an idea of size. Interestingly, the one on the right has that fused marking on the top of his shell. We have an adult in the garden with the exact same marking, so it is genetic and passed on.


All wild and live in our garden. We have about 30 Angulates, with a wide range in age and size.
Hi Jeanine
Just read your remark about the fused marking on the top of the shell and wanted to comment that all my hatchlings have that same fused scute.
 

CarolM

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Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Hi Jeanine
Just read your remark about the fused marking on the top of the shell and wanted to comment that all my hatchlings have that same fused scute.
I just checked and kingsley's hatchling and chrishermanni's hatchling also have that same fused scute. Maybe not as noticable as ours are but there all the same. Hmmm quite interesting. I wonder if it's then a character of the species that carries through them all?
 
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