How quickly do RedFoots grow?

[twidgetmom]

My son's RedFoot seems like it is the same size as it was 3 months ago.
How quickly do these little guys grow? Are there times of the year that they grow quicker than others?

Schnitt has a home that is kept at the humidity and temps that are recommend. He is fed a variety of veggies and Mazuri. His latest favorite food is cabbage. He chows that my the leaf.

I think we are doing everything right but not confident about his growth.

Any help would be great.


First pic was taken today. Second is from January, shortly after we got him.

 

[Tom]

Growth rate is determined by many factors including temps, diet and hydration. Cabbage is only okay to feed once in a while. Many people recommend different temperatures and enclosure parameters. It would help us to know specifically what your four temps are. Warm side, cool side, basking spot, and night? What are you using for heating and lighting? UV? Humidity levels? Enclosure type and size? Any protein in the diet?

 

[Mightymcknighty]

Yeah I have had my redfoot for 9 months and he still looks the same size, you should buy a scale and weigh him each week or month to see the weight difference probably the best bet just ordered one from ebay today

 

[mike taylor]

I can tell you this. I got my red foot a year ago . She was six inches long now see is nine inches long . The other two where maybe four inches when I got them in August of last year . They are six inches long know . In the winter I keep my torts in my barn with the heat set at 85 . My enclosure is 8/8 feet . In the summer they have a 20/20 foot enclosure. So the more room and the more plants they can graze on the faster they grow so I have seen .
Hope that helps answer the growth question.
Sent from my C771 using TortForum mobile app

 

[FLINTUS]

3 inches growth in a year? I would be disturbed by that. Even 2 inches is too much. At 6 inches, he would've probably been 3 years min, 5 years max, but 9 inches is another 2-4 years older.

 

[DixieParadise]

I put them out a little earlier this year and left them 24/7. They all went through some growth spurt. So, I agree that temps and diet and space make a difference.

 

[AnnV]

Mine have grown faster than I was prepared for. Everything I read indicated I would get approx an inch a year. So at 2 1/2 they should be no more than 4.5 -5 inch.
Actually one is about that (I need to actually take a ruler out). But the other has overtaken her sister in length and bulk.
And maybe it is t h e 'bulk' that surprises me. I can barely hold the large one with one hand now. Well, not safely. She is strong!

Here are my 3 soaking. The Indian Star was hatched 3/12. The other two in March 2011.
The Star is 155 grams whereas my largest redfoot is over 460 grams. Is that normal?
They were so tiny when I got the redfoots!
Ann from CT

 

[mike taylor]

When i got my reds they where sick . I took the to the vet and they fixed them up . They all had an ri so maybe that had something to do with growth . As soon as they where filling better the clover in there enclosure started disappearing . The hibiscus was trimmed . The grass was mowed . All my dudes seem to do is graze and sleep with fat full bellies . So good or bad I think if they can graze they know when there full . So they grow like they would in the wild I would guess because there is no person feeding them everyday rashes you now . When i first got them I was measuring there food out. Then I planted all the plants and measuring the food went out the window .

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[sunshine_hugs]

I've had my first two for a year, and they both grew exactly an inch in length in a year. They have always lived outside full-time, with a varied diet of local food, grass, weeds and flowers.

I agree with Mightymcknighty, maybe you should be a scale if you are worried about the growth (or lack of it), and also measure his shell with a ruler and see if you notice him growing. Sometimes, when you look at them everyday, you don't notice how much they've actually grown.

 

[FLINTUS]

When i got my reds they where sick . I took the to the vet and they fixed them up . They all had an ri so maybe that had something to do with growth . As soon as they where filling better the clover in there enclosure started disappearing . The hibiscus was trimmed . The grass was mowed . All my dudes seem to do is graze and sleep with fat full bellies . So good or bad I think if they can graze they know when there full . So they grow like they would in the wild I would guess because there is no person feeding them everyday rashes you now . When i first got them I was measuring there food out. Then I planted all the plants and measuring the food went out the window .

Sent from my C771 using TortForum mobile app

Maybe catching up for the lost growth?
You wouldn't see that kind of growth in the wild, less than an inch a year and might reach 12 inches 10-15 years. In the wild, they would often go without food for long periods, but then would eat plenty when they have the chance-this is one of the problems of keeping tortoises in captivity, it is particularly evident with Horsfields/Russians as they only eat for 3-4 months a year in the wild, so 95% of them are overgrown in captivity.

 

[Yvonne G]

Sometimes if a tortoise has had a bad start in life it takes quite a while for his metabolism to catch up and start acting normal. Just be patient and enjoy your tortoise. Give it love and good care, and eventually you will be rewarded with a beautiful and normal-sized tortoise for the age.

 

[Mgridgaway]

1-2" a year is pretty average in captivity, but do keep in mind that, like humans, tortoises can grow to be different sizes and grow at different rates.

My largest, Harper, is about 8" right now and was 4" when we got her nearly 2 years ago. That's about 2" per year.

Darwin, who I've had since a hatchling, is right over 6" and was around 2.5" when we got him a little over two years ago. That's about 1.75 a year.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

When i got my reds they where sick . I took the to the vet and they fixed them up . They all had an ri so maybe that had something to do with growth . As soon as they where filling better the clover in there enclosure started disappearing . The hibiscus was trimmed . The grass was mowed . All my dudes seem to do is graze and sleep with fat full bellies . So good or bad I think if they can graze they know when there full . So they grow like they would in the wild I would guess because there is no person feeding them everyday rashes you now . When i first got them I was measuring there food out. Then I planted all the plants and measuring the food went out the window .

Sent from my C771 using TortForum mobile app

Maybe catching up for the lost growth?
You wouldn't see that kind of growth in the wild, less than an inch a year and might reach 12 inches 10-15 years. In the wild, they would often go without food for long periods, but then would eat plenty when they have the chance-this is one of the problems of keeping tortoises in captivity, it is particularly evident with Horsfields/Russians as they only eat for 3-4 months a year in the wild, so 95% of them are overgrown in captivity.

FLINTUS, you have sparked my curiosity very strongly by referencing wild tortoise growth rates, especially for those neonate subadult years. What are you basing that inch a year on?

As for 'catching up for lost time' - of course the tortoise has no sense of time the way we do, but biologically if they respond with quicker growth upon recovery of some illness, does that not mean they do grow fast under optimal condition? Both 'not ill' and good micro climate and food availability would emulate at least some populations and conditions in the wild. That is what I strive for in captivity - long duration optimal conditions. Just like wild populations in those optimal conditions.

David Morafka used in-situ neonates with experimental controls and demonstrated, at least within the boundaries of optimal wild and suboptimal wild animals, the more optimal condition animals grew much faster than those in sub-optimal conditions. Optimality was only based on artificially augmenting rain fall (for the region) from low years to high years, during low years.

Morafka studied CDT's, I would like to know what study I may have missed that applies some sort of observation or variable control with wild redfoots. That would be so great to see.

Will

 

[FLINTUS]

FLINTUS, you have sparked my curiosity very strongly by referencing wild tortoise growth rates, especially for those neonate subadult years. What are you basing that inch a year on?
There was a big paper on it, can't remember where though. It also seems to be the general consensus when wild ones have been studied

As for 'catching up for lost time' - of course the tortoise has no sense of time the way we do, but biologically if they respond with quicker growth upon recovery of some illness, does that not mean they do grow fast under optimal condition? Both 'not ill' and good micro climate and food availability would emulate at least some populations and conditions in the wild. That is what I strive for in captivity - long duration optimal conditions. Just like wild populations in those optimal conditions.

David Morafka used in-situ neonates with experimental controls and demonstrated, at least within the boundaries of optimal wild and suboptimal wild animals, the more optimal condition animals grew much faster than those in sub-optimal conditions. Optimality was only based on artificially augmenting rain fall (for the region) from low years to high years, during low years.

Morafka studied CDT's, I would like to know what study I may have missed that applies some sort of observation or variable control with wild redfoots. That would be so great to see.

Will

Your point about optimal conditions is no doubt true. In the wild, I suspect red foots are falling short of their nutritional requirements.

 

[Tom]

As for 'catching up for lost time' - of course the tortoise has no sense of time the way we do, but biologically if they respond with quicker growth upon recovery of some illness, does that not mean they do grow fast under optimal condition? Both 'not ill' and good micro climate and food availability would emulate at least some populations and conditions in the wild. That is what I strive for in captivity - long duration optimal conditions. Just like wild populations in those optimal conditions.

Will, I have been having this argument for years, and you just summed it all up better than I ever have. And you did it in one paragraph!

Well said. I agree.