When are they full grown?

[Macheteslaststep]

So, I was looking at my big boy, Tank, this morning. He's 6-7 years old, about 8 inches SCL, and around 5 pounds. He's a G.p.bacocki - when will he stop growing and is there a way to guesstimate how big he will be? He's gained an inch in the past year if that helps at all

Meanwhile, Dozer is 2 years younger and already 6-7 inches and 3 pounds - I assume he's going to be a bit bigger than Tank in the long run, but I guess anything can happen.

Saranna

 

[Yourlocalpoet]

Good question, is my Esmerelda (I assume she's babcocki) just a pig then because she's 8 years old, 13 inches and weighs 14 pounds! I know females get larger but that's quite a difference!
Can I see Tank's cute face?

 

[Greg T]

I have read Babcocki's will end up between 20-30 pounds typically when full grown. I don't know how that relates to size though.

 

[Yourlocalpoet]

I have read Babcocki's will end up between 20-30 pounds typically when full grown. I don't know how that relates to size though.

How big is your oldest Greg?

 

[Macheteslaststep]

Here's Tank - my guys aren't that photogenic lol.



And Dozer:



I weighed them while I was down there and Tank is only 2 1/2 pounds with Dozer being 1 1/2 pounds Am I not feeding enough?? They definately don't seem thin though. They get about 1-2 cups of greens (variety, today was spring mix) every other day and I mix in veggies, occ. fruit, and I just got Mazuri this week. Should I be feeding more often?

Saranna

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ETA: Their pyramiding is due to not being humid enough when they were babies, they do have sphagnum moss/dirt sections in their enclosures that keep up the humidity as well as their shells being sprayed every day. The room that they're in is humid also due to the aquatic's stock tank and evaporation.

Just don't want this to turn into a pyramid debate, so I am giving the info now

 

[Tom]

I feed every day, and since I've learned that protein and "excess nutrition" has little or nothing to do with pyramiding, I feed larger quantities now too.

The textbook line that I got was something like this, "Reptiles never stop growing until they die. They grow pretty fast up until they reach adult size and then the rate of growth slows down more and more as they get older and older, but they never really stop." My personal observations lead me to believe this is true.

 

[Macheteslaststep]

Oohh...ok. So if I feed 1-2 cups every other day, I can feed them every day without a problem - and should I give more? They finish everything the day I give it to them, should I give enough so that they leave some?

Saranna

 

[Laura]

I would consider changing thier substrate as well.. its hard to get traction on slippery pellets.. and when it gets wet, it tends to mold.. since they need humidity it will get wet.
Do they like the Mazuri?

 

[Tom]

Oohh...ok. So if I feed 1-2 cups every other day, I can feed them every day without a problem - and should I give more? They finish everything the day I give it to them, should I give enough so that they leave some?

Saranna

That's hard to say. It depends on how much you stuff into your measuring cup.

My opinion is this: If you are feeding a good diet, weeds, grasses, cactus, leaves and high fiber greens, just let them have as much as they want. I you ever decide to feed vegetables or fruits I would definitely feed those in moderation.

Honestly, I've heard many different ways for measuring out how much food a tortoise should get and so far, to my knowledge, every single method works for every single keeper.

I under fed my current adult sulcatas when I got them back in 1998. For many years I fed them lightly 4 or five days a week. I mistakenly thought that this would prevent pyramiding. What I ended up with is 12 year old mini-sulcatas that are not even 50 pounds. AND they still pyramided!

Now we know better.

 

[Macheteslaststep]

I would consider changing thier substrate as well.. its hard to get traction on slippery pellets.. and when it gets wet, it tends to mold.. since they need humidity it will get wet.
Do they like the Mazuri?

They love the Mazuri! Oh, I've been using the pellets for part of their enclosure (around food and water bowels to keep things cleaner ) for over a year with no mold problems or slipperiness. It's actually the same bedding I use for my horse who has allergies :shy:

Ok - so then I will up the amount of food I give. They are still so stubborn when it comes to grasses and weeds. It's like they don't like any of it...even when I chop it up and mix really well with other things - they pick it out.

Saranna