- Joined
- May 21, 2016
- Messages
- 166
Hi there, my Eastern Hermann tortoise Charlie is 14 months old. I raised him from a hatchling. Photos attached.
I am starting to think he's gaining too much weight too quickly! His recent growth progress so far is:
Month Date - Weight (g) - Length (SCL) (cm) - Jackson's Ratio (g/cm^3)
June 27 77 grams 6.5 cm R: 0.28
July 6 78 grams 6.6 cm R: 0.27
July 23 88 grams 6.8 cm R: 0.28
July 30 93 grams 7 0 cm R: 0.27
Aug 1 97 grams 7.2 cm R: 0.26
Aug 27 104 grams 7.6 cm R: 0.24
Aug 31 109 grams 7.7 cm R: 0.24
Sept 10 112 grams 8.2 cm R: 0.20
Sept 14 115 grams 8.2 cm R: 0.21
Sept 23 108 grams 8.2 cm R: 0.20
Oct 1 140 grams 8.3 cm R: 0.24
Nov 10 150 grams 8.4 cm R: 0.25
Nov 20 161 grams 8.5 cm R: 0.26
Nov 24 174 grams 8.6 cm R: 0.27
Diet:
I am feeding him mixture of Zoo Med Natural Grassland Tortoise Food as a key source of fibre. This core food is mixed with organic dandelions from Whole Foods every day. For variety, I combine with kale, arugula, endives etc..(rotating through) - all plants are referenced for safety through the tortoisetable website database. Once a week I put dried plantain, strawberry leaves, hibiscus flowers (bought from https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/). I am not a fan of too much supplements so every day I scrape off cuttlebone with sharp scissors into a powder and put in with his food. I usually cut everything up and it's the size of his body the amount I give him each day.
He eats a lot. I feed once a day and sometimes at night after bath time.
Habitat:
I live in Vancouver, BC Canada in a condo. Condo is big but balcony is small and we have a lot of rain so he's always been an indoor tortoise.
Hi enclosure has PowerSun UVB mercury vapor bulb 100 W upstairs and Reptisun 10.0 UVB downstairs with 75 W heat lamp. He has a humid hide for sleep but if it's cold, I usually take it out and let it dry over a couple days to warm up. I have 4 Arlo Pro wireless cameras (just installed) to watch him while I'm at work to make sure he's walking around and basking properly. Temps are 30 C at lights and cool spots go down to 24 or room temp. Night time I leave radiator on and is usually 21-22 C.
I spray his enclosure down with water every other day or every day depending on how wet I got it the last time. He's on all coco coir from Petsmart. Used to have sand/organic soil/coco mix but didn't like it, the smell and sand got into his shell. Reptibark I had mixed in as well and he eats them so that was no good. I find the coco coir by itself was the best for him.
There is no definitive answer but I think he's starting to get some pyramiding at his vertebral scutes. I am worried he is eating too much? I am feeding all the right diet and don't want to take him off his normal growth schedule because he is very healthy and happy. Should I reduce the food intake to prevent further issues? If so how much food should I reduce it by?
Thanks for your help.
James
I am starting to think he's gaining too much weight too quickly! His recent growth progress so far is:
Month Date - Weight (g) - Length (SCL) (cm) - Jackson's Ratio (g/cm^3)
June 27 77 grams 6.5 cm R: 0.28
July 6 78 grams 6.6 cm R: 0.27
July 23 88 grams 6.8 cm R: 0.28
July 30 93 grams 7 0 cm R: 0.27
Aug 1 97 grams 7.2 cm R: 0.26
Aug 27 104 grams 7.6 cm R: 0.24
Aug 31 109 grams 7.7 cm R: 0.24
Sept 10 112 grams 8.2 cm R: 0.20
Sept 14 115 grams 8.2 cm R: 0.21
Sept 23 108 grams 8.2 cm R: 0.20
Oct 1 140 grams 8.3 cm R: 0.24
Nov 10 150 grams 8.4 cm R: 0.25
Nov 20 161 grams 8.5 cm R: 0.26
Nov 24 174 grams 8.6 cm R: 0.27
Diet:
I am feeding him mixture of Zoo Med Natural Grassland Tortoise Food as a key source of fibre. This core food is mixed with organic dandelions from Whole Foods every day. For variety, I combine with kale, arugula, endives etc..(rotating through) - all plants are referenced for safety through the tortoisetable website database. Once a week I put dried plantain, strawberry leaves, hibiscus flowers (bought from https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/). I am not a fan of too much supplements so every day I scrape off cuttlebone with sharp scissors into a powder and put in with his food. I usually cut everything up and it's the size of his body the amount I give him each day.
He eats a lot. I feed once a day and sometimes at night after bath time.
Habitat:
I live in Vancouver, BC Canada in a condo. Condo is big but balcony is small and we have a lot of rain so he's always been an indoor tortoise.
Hi enclosure has PowerSun UVB mercury vapor bulb 100 W upstairs and Reptisun 10.0 UVB downstairs with 75 W heat lamp. He has a humid hide for sleep but if it's cold, I usually take it out and let it dry over a couple days to warm up. I have 4 Arlo Pro wireless cameras (just installed) to watch him while I'm at work to make sure he's walking around and basking properly. Temps are 30 C at lights and cool spots go down to 24 or room temp. Night time I leave radiator on and is usually 21-22 C.
I spray his enclosure down with water every other day or every day depending on how wet I got it the last time. He's on all coco coir from Petsmart. Used to have sand/organic soil/coco mix but didn't like it, the smell and sand got into his shell. Reptibark I had mixed in as well and he eats them so that was no good. I find the coco coir by itself was the best for him.
There is no definitive answer but I think he's starting to get some pyramiding at his vertebral scutes. I am worried he is eating too much? I am feeding all the right diet and don't want to take him off his normal growth schedule because he is very healthy and happy. Should I reduce the food intake to prevent further issues? If so how much food should I reduce it by?
Thanks for your help.
James