small for his age

Barajcam/ Whilma

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Joined
Apr 4, 2019
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5
Location (City and/or State)
Texas
My sulcata is 3 years old and is only 4 inches long and doesn’t graze on grass like most sulcatas she eats a lot and doesn’t seem to lose appetite she has an outdoor habitat and has grown alittle over the year but is there anything I can do to help her start grazing on grass and help her back to proper growth like most sulcatas because I know she should be a lot bigger by now
 

TillyGtheTortoise

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Joined
Feb 12, 2019
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6
Location (City and/or State)
Santa Monica, CA
My sulcata is 3 years old and is only 4 inches long and doesn’t graze on grass like most sulcatas she eats a lot and doesn’t seem to lose appetite she has an outdoor habitat and has grown alittle over the year but is there anything I can do to help her start grazing on grass and help her back to proper growth like most sulcatas because I know she should be a lot bigger by now

Try slowly mixing in the grass with her favorite food. I’m doing the same right now with orchard hay. It’s slow-going but you’ll make progress if you go slowly and be extremely patient.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
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Jan 23, 2008
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Clovis, CA
You might take a stool sample to a vet to see if your tortoise has parasites.

If you post pictures of your tortoise and his living conditions we may be able to give you some pointers.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Southern California
Are you keeping a 4" sulcata outdoors full time? If yes, this would be your answer. Whenever you keep little ones outside too much, it slows their growth tremendously.

Keeping the tortoise mostly in a large indoor closed chamber with monsoon conditions and daily soaks, along with feeding the right foods will make it grow at a more normal rate. Adding some Mazuri to the diet will help too. Short daily excursions to the great outdoors for sun, grazing and exercise are good, but outside for hours every day will deliver the results you are seeing.

Here is more explanation:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
 
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