My Little Sif - Not so little anymore!

[Seiryu]

Hi all. Haven't posted in many, many months. Things have been pretty busy here.

Just wanted to post some pics of my little Sif. She's about 14 months old now. I got her when she was 4-5 months old.

First day, getting a soak after being shipped.

Also first day checking out her new pad. Note the size of her compared to water dish.

Her old 2x4 ft enclosure. She now shares a 4x6 ft enclosure with Thor.

Her today. Pretty smooth growth. Wish I had gotten her as a 1 month old or so. But happy! She is very active and no longer shy like she was when I first got her.

Enjoying Mazuri day. Look at the concentration! LOL.

And her compared to the same water dish (I need new ones now!)

 

[jaizei]

Looks good

 

[chase thorn]

wow very nice :] love it!

 

[ascott]

So very pretty

 

[AnthonyC]

Looks great!!

 

[Candy]

She is just a beauty Rob. Looks like she's going to be needing a new water dish soon.

 

[Torty Mom]

Wow, she has grown alot, she is very beautiful!!

 

[wilt]

shes beautiful.

 

[wrmitchell22]

She is so pretty! Great pics

 

[Tom]

Posts like this bring me immense joy. Words cannot describe it. Just a few years ago, no one had ever seen a captive raised leopard this smooth. Every book and every expert was still saying the same things: "Hot and dry", "Desert species", "they get their water from their food", etc... WRONG!

Now look at us today. All we ever see is near perfect shells on this forum. I find it so interesting. Everybody's adult leopards and sulcatas are pyramided to some degree and almost all of the babies we see nowadays are totally smooth. I can't even imagine how perfect a tortoise like Sif will look as an adult.

She looks fantastic Rob. You've done a great job. Thanks for sharing your pics.

 

[Seiryu]

Thanks guys. She is an amazing tort. Although right now she is looking more male. But don't tell her that .

And Tom, thanks to your great advice almost a year ago now I was able to help her shell grow smooth.

I will say to those who are new and are striving for smooth growth. Spraying the shells once or twice a day in my opinion is a HUGE factor in this.

I won't go into huge detail. But my two tortoises (Sif 14 months, and Thor 26 months old) were fed basically the same thing. They were given as much outside time as I could (2-8 hours a day, many times a week). Calcium and Vitamin supplements, all the same. Lighting/heat the same. Same humid hides with moist substrate. Always had access to water 24/7 with soaks many times a week.

The only thing I did different with Sif, who is smooth is sprayed her shell 1-2 times a day the day she arrived. Everything else was as close as you can get to the same.

When I got Thor (at 3-4 months old). There was no info about spraying their shells for this species. At about 12 months old I noticed he was slowly getting worse in regards to the pyramiding. Never sprayed his shell. He is now decently pyramided. And I do believe a lot of it had to do with not directly spraying his shell. Again this is MY experience. Nothing more.

 

[Neal]

He looks good.

 

[TortieLuver]

How beautiful. I love updates like this that show a difference in size/age as their development changes.

 

[dmarcus]

Very nice coloration...

 

[stephiiberrybean]

Wow. She is beautiful

 

[hoopalou]

wow! what a difference.... and I agree with Tom. It is exciting to understand more about their needs in our care