Growth Chart

[webskipper]

I realize that Torts even from the same clutch and raised under the same conditions will vary in size and growth.

However, my Tort table is proving a little narrow and I'd like to make an adult table.

How large do Greek ibera get after one, two, three, 5 years?

Table will either be a 4x8 type wooden bookcase style box or a preform pond.

 

[GBtortoises]

Growth rate with Ibera (or any other Northern Mediterranean species) is going to depend very much upon diet, hydration, heat, light duration, activity level and some other more minor factors. So results are going to vary from captive environment to captive environment. As a very general rule of thumb 5 year old Ibera could be about 5.5-7". Again, there are a lot of variables. It is more ideal to raise them smoother, which takes more patience, than to raise them larger, faster which often results in them not looking much like their wild counterparts.

Three Ibera in an enclosure anywhere from 3' x 6' to 4' x 8' size enclosure should be fine as adults. Bigger is always better! Mine are kept in smaller enclosures while indoors for about 3 months before going into hibernation. The rest of the time that they are active they are outdoors in much larger enclosures. Nothing really can take the place of the benefits of keeping them outdoors.

 

[webskipper]

That's great to hear. I am seriously considering a 4 foot diameter x 18" preform pond for the apartment balcony to grow some seeds and to put the kids out on the weekends in the sun. There is a ton of Doves here. So if a Hawk was around I'm sure the Doves would scatter fast.

I have no idea if I am pushing their growth. They get a handful of pre-cut mixed greens every morning, there is a dish of Zoomed grassland Tort food, and also a 18X18 flat of Dichondra growing wildly. They trampled and ate the last flat so bad that I replaced it. Now it looks like the one in my thread about the new table. Baths are done on the weekends and once during the week so far depending on where the sun is outside the apartment. People are puzzled seeing them in water when they pass by. Opuntia now and then when I go out and cut a piece. Vita and calcium powders, too. All 3 were born circa SEP09 and are over 60g.