- Joined
- Jul 23, 2008
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- 1,429
"I've only seen one or two females that laid eggs at less than 10" SCL."
From our experience, ours started laying at a small size. It seems egg laying is more dependent on the size of the girls anal plastron opening versus the size of their shells. Last year five of our cherryheads laid eggs. We measured them today to see how big they really were. The two biggest are 10" and the smallest is 8.5" SCL. The two middle are 9 3/4" and 9 1/8". One of the 10" girls began laying eggs for us two years ago. The four big girls produce 4-5 eggs per clutch and the smallest 1-3.
We have one "sub-adult" girl that is 9 3/4" and her anal opening is too small for her to safely lay eggs. We also have a real sub adult at 6 1/4" whose anal opening is already starting to separate from the plastron. She is likely to mature at a very small size.
We have seen some monstrous cherryheads that were well over 12", the biggest girl we saw was a 14" gorgeous girl. There is no doubt that they can grow to nice healthy size.
From our experience, ours started laying at a small size. It seems egg laying is more dependent on the size of the girls anal plastron opening versus the size of their shells. Last year five of our cherryheads laid eggs. We measured them today to see how big they really were. The two biggest are 10" and the smallest is 8.5" SCL. The two middle are 9 3/4" and 9 1/8". One of the 10" girls began laying eggs for us two years ago. The four big girls produce 4-5 eggs per clutch and the smallest 1-3.
We have one "sub-adult" girl that is 9 3/4" and her anal opening is too small for her to safely lay eggs. We also have a real sub adult at 6 1/4" whose anal opening is already starting to separate from the plastron. She is likely to mature at a very small size.
We have seen some monstrous cherryheads that were well over 12", the biggest girl we saw was a 14" gorgeous girl. There is no doubt that they can grow to nice healthy size.