Hello experts. Ryan here. Ordered a sulcata on a whim because shipping was free when I ordered my pond turtles. Stump is now ending month 13 since hatching and this month has been the first month joining the pound a month club. Recent photos are on the main page. I'm concerned with the projected pound a week club as shown on the charts below. When does this typically slow up? Now... I had been following Mazuri's instructions small tortoise LS for year 1 and then LS when large enough to eat. Stump switched to half and half on month 9 and completely Mazuri LS (and the right greens of course the entire time) on month 10. At current weight per my food calculator, Mazuri was to be 70g and 16g of greens with a couple grams veg.
For the past month Stump has only received about 30-40g of Mazuri daily and usually there is some left over. I weighed 16g of greens this evening and it's laughable. Stump would eat that in about 2 minutes based on what I saw Stump eat today while grazing.
Poop is about 4" long and 5/8" wide. Perfectly fine. Urates fine and we watch Stump drink for a couple minutes each morning. It's kind of routine at this point.
What is not routine is Stump pestering my wife to go out after s/he is warm and then eating >150g of winter weeds and grass. Today Stump was out for 5 hours in the 60's and the carapace got down to 73. Didn't care one bit. Now the issue. Seems like last year growth was higher in the warm months as shown in the chart below. We are now in spring and s/he will be out much more often. This is a 13 month old tortoise that is basically 5 pounds and 9" long carapace length measured on the bottom with a cloth tape.
This month Stump has entered the pound a month club but as I analyze growth, this sucker will either slow down or enter the pound a week club soon.
Behavior has changed as Stump wants to walk past previous food and do tortoise **** before grubbing down at his new favorite section of the yard. Walk first, eat second, then walk back... slooooowly. Like he's stuffed; which s/he is.
This chart was last year until now. Notice the percentage growth when it is warm out.
If the current growth percentage holds which is still lower than the previous year will this sucker be gaining a pound a week beginning in June?
For those of you that have done this for years when does it taper off? Do I eliminate all Mazuri? Do I restrict this thing to grass only for a while? Is this normal?
This thing is the most docile sweetest creature. Wouldn't/doesn't hurt a dead bug. Very gentle unless you're grass or a weed.
For the past month Stump has only received about 30-40g of Mazuri daily and usually there is some left over. I weighed 16g of greens this evening and it's laughable. Stump would eat that in about 2 minutes based on what I saw Stump eat today while grazing.
Poop is about 4" long and 5/8" wide. Perfectly fine. Urates fine and we watch Stump drink for a couple minutes each morning. It's kind of routine at this point.
What is not routine is Stump pestering my wife to go out after s/he is warm and then eating >150g of winter weeds and grass. Today Stump was out for 5 hours in the 60's and the carapace got down to 73. Didn't care one bit. Now the issue. Seems like last year growth was higher in the warm months as shown in the chart below. We are now in spring and s/he will be out much more often. This is a 13 month old tortoise that is basically 5 pounds and 9" long carapace length measured on the bottom with a cloth tape.
This month Stump has entered the pound a month club but as I analyze growth, this sucker will either slow down or enter the pound a week club soon.
Behavior has changed as Stump wants to walk past previous food and do tortoise **** before grubbing down at his new favorite section of the yard. Walk first, eat second, then walk back... slooooowly. Like he's stuffed; which s/he is.
This chart was last year until now. Notice the percentage growth when it is warm out.
If the current growth percentage holds which is still lower than the previous year will this sucker be gaining a pound a week beginning in June?
For those of you that have done this for years when does it taper off? Do I eliminate all Mazuri? Do I restrict this thing to grass only for a while? Is this normal?
This thing is the most docile sweetest creature. Wouldn't/doesn't hurt a dead bug. Very gentle unless you're grass or a weed.
