Photo Gallery :: Skipper, 12 years in

[Skippah]

This might sound wild, but I believe she is suddenly having a growth spurt! Look at how the pattern on her shell distorts and stretches along the red lines!

[steve]

It's possible, have you measured her before?

[Skippah]

I have, but very inconsistently, and I rarely wrote down the results.
Inconsistently as in... it's really hard to measure a turtle lol. Sometimes I'd measure the plastron, sometimes I'd try to measure the carapace, with varying degrees of straightness of the tape measure. Hoping to find some relatively inexpensive calipers that can measure up to at least 12", that seems like it would be the easiest thing to use.

[Skippah]

What I do know, is that I have never taken a measurement that is more than 10"! So if she crosses that, then we can be sure that she is growing!

[Skippah]

omggg I just got permission to build a plywood tank
should I start a new thread?

[steve]

Whoa, it's been awhile. Congrats on getting permission!

[Skippah]

i might not have accurate records of measurements, but i realized that i have some shed scutes from earlier this year, maybe march?

old shed scute overlaid on current scute

i also know that on march 14th, she weighed 47.25 oz. i can't find the scale now though...

[steve]

It does look like a mini-growth spurt. Shell looks pretty good.