DTNGUYEN0707
New Member
I have 4 sulcata tortoises. Each of them seem to be growing at a much slower rate than I have read of other sulcata tortoises. I purchased my oldest one during September of 2021, and as of today, it only weighs 1.118 lbs. It is also about the size of my hand, or a little bit bigger than a baseball. Month by month, I either measure no increase in weight or circumference, or a slight increase by 0.1 lbs or cm. This is the same for my 2 year old, 6 month old, and 4 month old. I have done a lot of research regarding generally caring for a sulcata tortoise, and to the best of my ability, have been following these guidelines.
My general routine would be taking them outside in the mornings to my front yard where they have access to grass all day. Near the evening, I would take them back inside to a closed chamber enclosure. My humidity levels are around 60-80, and my temperatures read around 88 degrees F. The diet I provide for them is grass, weeds, romaine lettuce, pricky pear cactus, mustard greens, and hibiscus leaves. Assuming that they consumed a good amount of grass for the day, I would feed them about a handful of food at night. I soak my sulcata tortoises about once every 2-3 days. I do not choose to have a UV bulb in my sulcata enclosure because I have them outside for the entire day already.
Can I please get some advice or critiques as to what I might be doing wrong? Are they not eating enough grass or weeds? I know for a fact that a 3 year old tortoise should not be weighing only 1 lb.
*I admit starting my oldest 1 lb tortoise with poor conditions. I had very dry humidity and only fed them romaine lettuce. As a result, it pyramided. Upon learning more about how to care for tortoises, I tried to improve my routine with my other three, and have managed to fix the pyramiding problem, but have not figured out why they do not grow as fast as they should be.
My general routine would be taking them outside in the mornings to my front yard where they have access to grass all day. Near the evening, I would take them back inside to a closed chamber enclosure. My humidity levels are around 60-80, and my temperatures read around 88 degrees F. The diet I provide for them is grass, weeds, romaine lettuce, pricky pear cactus, mustard greens, and hibiscus leaves. Assuming that they consumed a good amount of grass for the day, I would feed them about a handful of food at night. I soak my sulcata tortoises about once every 2-3 days. I do not choose to have a UV bulb in my sulcata enclosure because I have them outside for the entire day already.
Can I please get some advice or critiques as to what I might be doing wrong? Are they not eating enough grass or weeds? I know for a fact that a 3 year old tortoise should not be weighing only 1 lb.
*I admit starting my oldest 1 lb tortoise with poor conditions. I had very dry humidity and only fed them romaine lettuce. As a result, it pyramided. Upon learning more about how to care for tortoises, I tried to improve my routine with my other three, and have managed to fix the pyramiding problem, but have not figured out why they do not grow as fast as they should be.
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