Too small?

[Muffinthetort]

My sully is 9 months old and only weighs 53 grams and is barely 3 inches. Is he too small?

 

[Levi the Leopard]

How are you raising it?

They all grow at different rates but the conditions you keep then in play a role in growth.

Do you keep it in a dry desert type environment or a hot and humid rainforest type environment?

53 grams sounds like your 9 month old is still the size it was at a few weeks old.

Heather
sent while on my purple android TFOapp

 

[Muffinthetort]

How are you raising it?

They all grow at different rates but the conditions you keep then in play a role in growth.

Do you keep it in a dry desert type environment or a hot and humid rainforest type environment?

53 grams sounds like your 9 month old is still the size it was at a few weeks old.

Heather
sent while on my purple android TFOapp

We're aiming for a hot and humid environment but still messing with getting the humidity just right.
He was at the pet shop for about four months before we adopted him and in the period of time I don't think he grew any. They had him in a very dry hot environment.

 

[Tom]

Yes he is undersized for his age. In this case it seems due to his incorrect set up at the pet store. You really ought to go and tell them they've got the wrong idea. They might give you the brush off, but try anyway. Somebody has got to be the first to tell them. Once they hear it 10 or 20 times, they might start to listen.

My hatchlings usually hit 53 grams in their first month. By nine months they are usually around 400-500 grams. Don't worry too much about this. Just get him hydrated, sunning, and eating well.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Give him the proper care and you will be amazed at how fast he grows.

 

[rideburton87]

I had the same problem with my sully. He was originally kept in a tortoise table but after finding this forum and reading up on the closed chambers I built him one. He didnt grow at all in the first six months or so that I had him and thats when I started researching a lot more about torts. Since I put him in the closed chamber with the hotter temps and much higher humidity he started to grow almost immediately and continues to gain noticeable size and weight.

 

[Muffinthetort]

I've got an almost closed setup right now, but I had to make holes for the lights and such, so I'm losing humidity because of that I think. I've got a month that I'll be off work now, so I've got plenty of time to work on his setup. Once the indoor one if stabilized I'll be making an outdoor pen where he can have a bit more room to roam about when I'm outside. He absolutely loves his outdoor time! I'm amazed by how quickly he can climb through the grass.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I have holes in the lid of my enclosure for the lights too. I made a ring of aluminum foil that extends about 1 1/2 inches under the rim of the lamp fixture and about 1" outward. Since making this change my humidity stays up and I don't loose any of it! That little bit of overlapping foil has made a HUGE difference!

Try that

 

[Muffinthetort]

I have holes in the lid of my enclosure for the lights too. I made a ring of aluminum foil that extends about 1 1/2 inches under the rim of the lamp fixture and about 1" outward. Since making this change my humidity stays up and I don't loose any of it! That little bit of overlapping foil has made a HUGE difference!

Try that

Thanks! I'll try that fixing it like that first thing in the morning.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Let us know how it works for you.

I used to have to spray the enclosure with water multiple times a day.
Now I go more than a week without spraying and the humidity stays high 80s to 90s the whole time.
It's awesome

Heather
sent while on my purple android TFOapp

 

[Muffinthetort]

Let us know how it works for you.

I used to have to spray the enclosure with water multiple times a day.
Now I go more than a week without spraying and the humidity stays high 80s to 90s the whole time.
It's awesome

Heather
sent while on my purple android TFOapp

We've got a fogger that keeps the humidity where it should be, but it just doesn't hold enough water to keep going while we're at work, so we've been spraying whenever we can as well.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I won't be surprised if the fogger isn't needed (or rarely turns on) after all the holes are closed up.



Heather
sent while on my purple android TFOapp

 

[Muffinthetort]

After the changes I made this morning the humidity is holding at 85% everywhere and 95% in the hide.
My temperatures are 105 directly under his light, 88 most everywhere, and 78 in his hide.
I've got 2.5 inches of just plain dirt in the bottom with 2 inches of coco coir on top of it. I've got dandelions planted in there now with some plantain and clover soon to be added. (I'm growing them elsewhere until they're big enough to withstand his appetite.) I also keep a plate of chopped spring mix out for him that he munches on occassionally although he prefers real growing plants. He has access to a cuttlebone for calcium.
His hide has sphagnum moss in the back of it that he likes to burrow into at night and right outside his hide he has this botanical hay that the pet store had as his substrate. He doesn't eat it ever, but he loves to lay in it, so I kept a bit in there for him.

I think his setup is pretty okay now but I do have a few questions.
He was already showing signs of pyramiding when we brought him home ; is there anything I can do about that or will it be permanent?
He has access to a cuttlebone, but do I need to be giving him a calcium supplement too?
How much of the day does he need to spend in his enclosure? He stays there at night, but we let him be outside for 5 or 6 hours a day and when we're home he likes to follow us around the house so we let him be out. He's only in his setup from about 9pm until 6am on an average day.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

The pyramiding never goes away but you can have better conditions that allow the new growth to be smooth. As the tortoise grows you'll hardly notice anything.

I supply cuttlebone 24/7. I hardly ever supplement. The only one I tried was the MinerAll outdoor but have maybe given it 5x total.

The more time your tortoise is in the hot and humid environment while small and growing the better. Those are the conditions needed for smooth growth. My leopard hatchling (raised the same way) was only outdoors 2-4hours for quite awhile. As he grew in size I extended the outdoor time. Now at almost 5" and over a year old he goes out around 9am and comes in around 6pm.

You can choose to do what you want. I would alter your current schedule so that he has his few hours outside and then spends the rest of the time in the humid enclosure. While many have no opposition to letting a tortoise run around the house on the floor, I am not one of them. I dont, wont, wouldn't and recommend against it. Nope. Never.

Keep an eye on your humidity since the changes. I'd like to know if you notice it stays humid now that you've closed it better.

 

[rideburton87]

I provide pieces of cuttle bone through out my enclosures but the torts never touch it so I have to supplement their food with calcium every other day.. And I do believe that if you are providing appropriate UVB you dont have to supplement D3 calcium. I still provide them with D3 a couple times a week because my UVB bulb is 20'' above the torts and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the farther away the UVB is from your reptiles the less they will actually get. 10-12'' away is max before the UVB isnt at its full affect..

 

[alysciaingram]

What I use to keep my temps and humidity up and not let it escape through the holes in my closed chamber is J&B weld epoxy. It withstands up to 500 degrees F and is water proof. I apply the epoxy to the aluminum foil around my lamps so I know it won't be moved and cause a fire, and it seals up all the holes the moisture could get through. I can also remove my lamps if i needed to, since they sit in the tin foil. I haven't sprayed my tank today yet since the torts are outside but it's at 82% humidity.

 

[Muffinthetort]

Without spraying today the humidity has been around 85% and the fogger hasn't turned on at all so that issue seems to be fixed.
Since getting everything readjusted he's been quite a bit more active.
I sprinkled some calcium supplement on his food this morning but since I added live plants to his enclosure he's not at all interested in the food I put out for him, so I'm not sure how to get him to eat the supplement.