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.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.
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.