General Care Discussion :: Still like a hatchling

[OoAmericanGirl]

I bought 2 RES during spring break 3 years ago from a road side shop. One, who's name is Sheldon has grown and is nice and healthy while the other one, Sammy, hasn't grown yet. I talked to a vet about him about a year and a half ago and he said he could be hibernating from the poor conditions in which he was kept prior to my purchase. We tried separating them when feeding, but nothing has helped. Both turtles eat enough food every day. Other than being really small, Sammy seems healthy. Both turtles eat out of our hands, basks regularly and have a huge tank with 2 floating docks. THe water is about 79 degrees atm and stays about the same year round. The only thing wrong with Sammy other than his size is where Sheldon took a bite out of his shell about 6 months ago.

How normal is it for him not to grow? Any theories?

[TheComputerGremlin]

Well, if Sheldon attacked him, you've already seen the aggression that can come. How can you be sure that Sheldon isn't eating all of the food, leaving nothing for Sammy? I mean, obviously if Sammy is still alive, he's getting something. What are both of their sizes? You also say that the water is about 79 degrees at the moment, does it drop lower than that? Do you use a water heater? Turtles need a constant temperature to be healthy.

I don't think it's "normal" for him to not grow, but if he is really healthy and happy, I don't think there's anything you can do. It might just be in his genes to be smaller.

[marisa]

Sheldon took a bit out of Sammy 6 months ago and they're still together except for feeding time? Sammy could be genetically small, but if he's being harassed or bullied by the larger turtle, it will create stress and ultimately affect growth.

[SpotsMama]

I agree about the need to separate the turtles. Once they start showing aggression, it won't stop and will eventually escalate. It can cause serious stress and can result in serious physical injuries too. This is a very common situation. Turtles co-exist peacefully for quite a while, then one day one of them starts harrassing the other.

A common cause of slow or no growth in a turtle that's otherwise healthy is internal parasites. A vet can check for this pretty easily - just provide a stool sample. Usually if one has parasites, the other will get them too, but perhaps the little one has a worse infestation and that's why he/she's not growing as much.