Sizes

[mashton10]

Currently I have 6 Hermann, 4 of which are mine and 2 a friends which I'm looking after while he is travelling for 6 months. But the contrast in size is amazing. Are they all the same species? All of them was bought separately apart from the smallest which were bought together.

The first 3 are all 5 and of a big size, where the second 3 are all 4, this is according to who I bought them all off anyway and they are a lot smaller .



An I doing anything wrong?

 

[HermanniChris]

Husbandry, diet and hydration methods can manipulate the size of these tortoises greatly. In nature, a 5 year old Hermann's tortoise would be considerably smaller then one raised in captivity. Diet is different, frequency of food is also different and so is exposure to adequate temperatures. Tortoises in the wild have a shorter active season because most Hermann's tortoises hibernate in nature. This shortens their growing season to only 5-8 months out of the year depending on geographical origin. Then again, in some parts of the world, these tortoises only experience a 2-3 month hibernation, if anything at all (Mallorca and Sicily for example). I can tell by the photos that you have Eastern Hermann's tortoises which are most likely T. h. boettgeri but there may be a variant known as the Dalmatian Hermann's in this group as well. I would need clear plastron shots to be able to tell. There is no such thing as a "dwarf" Hermann's either. Many times, the Western subspecies of Hermann's tortoise is refereed to as a "dwarf" and this couldn't be any further from the truth. Size is set by geographical origin where some western tortoises grow to be quite small (Mount Etna for example) and some grow to be very large (Corsica for example). This range in size also occurs in the eastern subspecies where very small individuals are encountered (Peloponnesus, Greece) and also extremely large ones are seen (Bulgaria).

Basically, the size difference can be because of husbandry methods including diet or it can be because you have tortoises that originate from different localities in nature.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Size is a function of age and access to food. Hatchlings are tiny. They grow. A wild tortoise that estivates most of the year will grow more slowly than a well fed captive that eats all year round.

 

[mashton10]

Thanks, they are all eating well now, so I guess the small ones will eventually grow at a quicker now. I feed my tortoises everyday, I've read that some days it's okay not to feed them, to replicate what happens on the wild? Is this true?