Growth Rate

[godofthelazy]

I am thinking about getting a Leopard Tortoise, either GPB or GPP not sure at this point, and I was wondering if anyone could give me an average growth rate for the first 2-3 years. I know that every tort is different and its not guaranteed that it will only grow so much at first but I am interested and wanted to know how long before I would have to set up a nice large enclosure (still renting places and don't have the option as of yet to do something like that).

 

[Neal]

My Gpb are on pace to grow about 1.5 to 2 inches a year. My Gpp about 2 - 3. After 3 or 4 years the tortoise is going to grow at a faster rate. Typically they will start out slow (relatively), speed up after 3 - 4 years, then slow down after reaching adult size.

 

[godofthelazy]

so it would be possible to house one on a table or in a rubbermaid for 2-3 years until I had a place I could actually build a large enclosure?

 

[Neal]

Absolutley. Of course bigger is always better with tortoise housing, so go as big as possible, oh and you said "house one"....have you ever had a tortoise before? Once you start it's not going to stop at just one so you'd better plan ahead.

 

[Tom]

Another factor is where you live. Neal and I both live in areas where we can have our tortoise in outdoor pens most of the year. For me, this means that more of my focus is on my outdoor pens as the indoor pens are just an area where they sleep at night and spend the occasional cold spell during winter. I frequently house juvenile tortoises in 4x8' indoor pens, but use 15x30' outdoor pens for most days. I usually start hatchlings in 40-100 gallon size tanks, then move to 3x5' tubs, then the 4x8' enclosures. From the time they are hatched though, they get sunshine and exercise in outdoor pens almost every day.

 

[godofthelazy]

I already have 2 russians, but I currently live on cape cod where I cant put them outside most of the year. Great during the summer but the rest of the year is pretty cold so I have them on a tort table, that is 4'x6'. I am moving to CO in about 3 weeks and will have more room to keep torts so I can finally get another type and I love the way leopards look so thats what I am probably going to get. I just wanted to make sure that they could stay on a table or something relatively "small" since as I said before it will probably be 2-4 years before I can really make a dedicated outdoor enclosure for everyone.