Is this accurate?
- Thread starter Destben
- Start date
Stop Press! There are OTHER websites or social media that discuss torts? Say it aint so! Seek the truth in Tortoise Forum.
It’s leopard tort page on Facebook and I just want to be sure I shouldn’t be worried that my baby is growing to fast, but yes I seek the truth on tortoise forum.
Well, we've always said slow growth is best, however, when you give optimal care and diet and the living conditions are great, it's hard to tell those darned tortoises to stop growing so fast. Tom withheld food on one of his sulcatas because he heard slow growth keeps them from pyramiding. So his sulcata ended up being quite a bit smaller than most at the same age. @Tom ??
I think you're doing just fine. Don't worry about it.
I think you're doing just fine. Don't worry about it.
I didn’t think anything was wrong Torterra has been putting on the grams since I got him/her. she/he was 31g when I got him/her 3 months ago.
Yep.... Good tortoise hubandry translates into a healthy, growing, active tort. In your case this is translating into great growth. Your tort looks great, keep up the good work.
The FB pages are a constant source of irritation for me. Your tortoise is doing great.
What... like protein shakes and carb bars? Not sure how they think you're power feeding Torterra, but all kinds of mental images are popping into my head at the moment.... like something out of Bugs Bunny.
What... like protein shakes and carb bars? Not sure how they think you're power feeding Torterra, but all kinds of mental images are popping into my head at the moment.... like something out of Bugs Bunny.
Right!
Alaskamike
Well-Known Member
Once you know the proper diet - and are providing it in quantity , the rate of growth is not an issue. I’ve raised many , and many different species. Never worried about too much food or fast growth with one caveat;
If the have room to roam ,,they get exercise & you do not raise them in dry conditions.
Fast growth in dry environments will pyramid the shell -yes. The heat lamps are great for basking , but need an enclosed chamber to keep humidity around 80%. This allows the keratin to expand and lay down smooth growth.
People will say it’s not “ natural “ for the tort to have unlimited food available & they will get fat & pyramid. This is not the case with high humidity , water available & daily soaks.
Good fortune to you & your baby
If the have room to roam ,,they get exercise & you do not raise them in dry conditions.
Fast growth in dry environments will pyramid the shell -yes. The heat lamps are great for basking , but need an enclosed chamber to keep humidity around 80%. This allows the keratin to expand and lay down smooth growth.
People will say it’s not “ natural “ for the tort to have unlimited food available & they will get fat & pyramid. This is not the case with high humidity , water available & daily soaks.
Good fortune to you & your baby
Thank you!
The person/people making those comments on FB are ignorant. They are parroting the old, incorrect info that we were all taught for the last few decades. Some people like me and Yvonne have kept an open mind and tried to figure out why the old methods were not working, and we also figured out what does work and why. Many many people, like Mike, have contributed their experience and results from a multitude of keeping styles over many years to bring us to where we are today, but there are many people who still perpetuate the old false myths. Here is an assortment of FALSE oldies, but goodies:
When a baby tortoise is given proper care, food and hydration, they grow. They are supposed to grow. As Yvonne mentioned about my past mistakes, a person can deprive them of food, proper conditions, and hydration, like what would happen in the wild, and the tortoise would surely grow slower, but how can anyone argue that simulating the barely survivable wild conditions is a "good" thing? Most babies die in the wild. Almost all of them. The ratio is something like 300:1 or 1000:1 for the number of babies that die for one to survive. Simulating the wild is not my goal. Offering optimal conditions and giving my hatchling tortoises what they need to not only survive, but thrive, is my goal. I don't care what the growth rate is. If its slow, that is fine. If its faster than some other tortoises, that is fine too. What I care about is the "health rate". Is my tortoise receiving good foods? Is my tortoise receiving adequate hydration? Is my tortoise in conditions that will help it grow smoothly and look more like they do in the wild, instead of a disfigured pyramiding mess? Don't worry about the speed at which your tortoise grows. Worry about the health with which your tortoise grows.
From your pics and from what I've seen of your previous posts, you are doing things right and your tortoise is demonstrating the benefits of your excellent care. Invite the FB people here to learn and stop perpetuating old, incorrect myths. Copy/paste this post and share it with them. They are wrong. They've always been wrong. I used to say the same things and I was wrong. I learned better, they haven't yet.
- "Fast" growth is bad…
- Tortoises get all the water they need from their food…
- Humidity will cause shell rot and respiratory infections…
- Protein and fast growth from feeding it causes pyramiding…
- "Forced" soaks are bad. Who soaks them every day in nature?
- Too much soaking upsets their "water balance"…
- All tortoise species are desert animals and must be kept dry…
- Glass tanks confuse and upset the tortoises. They don't understand the "invisible barrier" and it stresses them out…
- Red heat lamps are good for night because tortoises can't see the red light…
- Babies do "better" outside full time...
When a baby tortoise is given proper care, food and hydration, they grow. They are supposed to grow. As Yvonne mentioned about my past mistakes, a person can deprive them of food, proper conditions, and hydration, like what would happen in the wild, and the tortoise would surely grow slower, but how can anyone argue that simulating the barely survivable wild conditions is a "good" thing? Most babies die in the wild. Almost all of them. The ratio is something like 300:1 or 1000:1 for the number of babies that die for one to survive. Simulating the wild is not my goal. Offering optimal conditions and giving my hatchling tortoises what they need to not only survive, but thrive, is my goal. I don't care what the growth rate is. If its slow, that is fine. If its faster than some other tortoises, that is fine too. What I care about is the "health rate". Is my tortoise receiving good foods? Is my tortoise receiving adequate hydration? Is my tortoise in conditions that will help it grow smoothly and look more like they do in the wild, instead of a disfigured pyramiding mess? Don't worry about the speed at which your tortoise grows. Worry about the health with which your tortoise grows.
From your pics and from what I've seen of your previous posts, you are doing things right and your tortoise is demonstrating the benefits of your excellent care. Invite the FB people here to learn and stop perpetuating old, incorrect myths. Copy/paste this post and share it with them. They are wrong. They've always been wrong. I used to say the same things and I was wrong. I learned better, they haven't yet.
Thank you! I always try and recommend this site anytime I am able. One of the leopard tortoise pages on Facebook will not allow it though and I almost got kicked out for trying. The other one I am part of recommends your care sheet daily so that’s the one I usually post in. [emoji16]
Some people have tried the "new" way and learned that it is better. Other people are vehemently opposed to learning anything new and use threats and intimidation to keep everyone around them in the dark, where they reside.
I'm glad that you were able to figure it all out. Not everyone does. You now have first hand experience doing it the new way, and they don't. Keep posting pics of your gorgeous tortoise. That is all the evidence anyone should need. Ask the nay-sayers to post pics of their tortoises at that age. They probably won't. Many of the people reading will "get it". Some will choose to remain ignorant.
Ask some of those people to give you just one example of any other animal where we have found it more healthy to purposely stunt its growth!
Just because tortoise have found a way to survive and shut down growth in conditions where other animals would die, does not mean that is optimal conditions. In nature, as a prey item when small, gaining size as quickly as possible is the goal. So "in the wild", when good food is available, they will grow as rapidly as they will in captivity. They are "programmed" for that. When conditions do not allow that, they hide and shut down, waiting for better conditions to return. Many do not make it and die before that happens as they are more fragile at that stage. So what part of the equation are you trying to duplicate? The good times or the bad?
Seems logical but some people are just ignorant to the truth.
Pot belly pigs?
