Size=Age

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Cam

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Hello, again:shy:

Is there a good guide that has a length/weight/age chart.

I would like to fugure out about how old Calvin is and about how much he should weigh and generally how fast/slow he should grow and gain weight. I read they take 4 years to reach full size (this same article said the Russian tops out at 6-8 inches max) So at 5 inches I am guessing he may be even older than I thought.

The Petsmart employee thought the little russian we brought home was a few months old (I think closer to a year?). Calvin's shell measures 5 inches. We are going to weigh him over the weekend...didn't want to stress him too much.

He so darn cute! And our son just melts when he watches and holds him:)

Thank you for any input!
 

Jacqui

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I am going to say, no there isn't a good chart. With Russians I call it an adult by age in years. However being an adult, does not mean they are of breeding age...especially the females.

How fast he grows is dependent on several things mainly his diet (how much he gets and how good of quality) and his environment (such as is he kept warm enough to digest his food or even stay active and eating, or if you hibernate him).

For example I have a very elderly Russian. Very much a wild caught and as a senior. Somebody has guesstamated he may be 80 years old. Yuri is small, he runs usually 400-450 g.

I recently picked up an adult male who was shipped to a friend for me to pick up. Mischa weighs in at 390. Most likely he was living in the wild until a little over a year ago. Shelly (the woman he was shipped to) placed him next to one of her males and he looked like a munchkin next to him. This male has been in captivity for many years and eating well. Age wise, I am guessing they are pretty close in age.

Wild caughts (WC) have harsh lives food can be sparse or poor quality and they also spend a chunk of their lives hibernating. Most pet stores sell WC adults, even when they sell them as CB youngsters. There just aren't that many CB Russians available yet.

A CB Russian will grow bigger and faster than his WC counterpart. WC also grow faster once brought into captivity.
 

Cam

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I realized i never said "thank you!" great link!
 
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