General Care Discussion :: Growing too fast?

[Sgt. Pepper]

I did a search and looked through about 20 pages of posts and didn't really find a lot about this. Anyway, I'm slightly concerned at the rate my turtle is growing. I got her(?) in October when she was about an inch long. She's now 3.5 inches. I'm guessing she's 6 or 7 months old right now.

Just more proof that pet store employees have no idea what they're talking about. "Double in size in a year", haha, makes me laugh.

Some extra information: I feed her probably around 8 to 12 pellets a day (what looks like will fit in her head) along with various greens like red leaf lettuce and turnip greens. I also gave her cilantro once but she didn't really take to it. I used to feed her anacharis on a fairly regular basis as well, she loves that stuff. She used to have cuttlebone but she ate it all and I've yet to get her some more, so she's been without that for maybe a month now.

Her water temperature is around 77 and the basking temp is around 80. I just now checked the basking temp and I didn't realize that there was only a 3 degree difference. She still basks all the time though. Is that a problem? Her basking dock barely supports her anymore, I just bought her a new one online a couple of days ago and I'm waiting for it to get here. She's still able to get out of the water completely, but if she grows any more (which she will) it won't.

She shed recently, but it wasn't excessive or anything. I think the whole process lasted maybe a week. She was looking really fuzzy for a day or two, but now she's back to normal.

Sorry this post was so long. She seems healthy and everything but I just want to be sure. Thanks in advance!

[marisa]

Yes, that's quite a bit of growth in that amount of time...

What brand of pellets? Especially if it's Reptomin, you're feeding too many. Be a bit stingier with the pellets---I'd give maybe around 6-7 at a feeding (I'm talking Reptomin; break them in half so it looks like more).

Too much of anything will isn't good. A member once said that her turtles gained too much weight because she fed them too much anachris and she cut back. How much of other foods does your turtle get?

I keep a few pieces of cuttlebone in the tank all the time and replace them as they're eaten. My turtles apparently don't eat it like yours does, though. I would give some cuttlebone daily---2 or 3 head-size pieces. If it's eaten, that's it until the next day. Don't give in to begging.

What are you checking the temps with? It sounds a bit unusual that a turtle would still bask all the time with such a small temp difference...

[Sgt. Pepper]

I thought so. She's enormous.

They are Reptomin. I was feeding her Reptomin Baby but she spent a month with my grandparents while I was moving into a new apartment and when the Baby ran out they got her regular. I think I just haven't adjusted to the bigger sticks. I also have no idea if they were feeding her too much. I don't think they were. My grandmother called me every other day with questions. "Her water is 76 degrees, is that ok? I gave her lettuce at 12:06 pm and it's still there! OMG SHE'S GONNA DIE". The turtle is their grandbaby, hahaha.

I usually give her maybe a handful of lettuce each day? Probably about 2 leaves of the stuff. She doesn't usually eat it all though. Whenever she was getting anacharis she had about 4 to 6 sprigs of it in the tank and it'd last about a week or so.

It took her a while to finish off the cuttlebone (it was a pretty large chunk. I think I had just cut it in half) and she wouldn't touch it until it sank to the bottom. I'll have to go get her some more, definitely.

My turtle is unlucky in the begging area, I've never fed her other than her usual feeding time in the morning, haha. She actually doesn't beg very often, typically only to new people. The only time she begs to me is before I've fed her in the morning, because she knows it's breakfast time!

I have an electronic thermometer (actually the exact one that's pictured on the main site's section for water temps). I only have the one at the moment and it's always in the water, which is why I didn't know the basking temp until I had just checked it. I took it out, dried it off, and held it where her shell usually is on the basking platform and got a little over 79. The water is a little low though. It evaporates really quickly. Probably because my apartment is usually around 78 degrees, haha. She basks for several hours a day, taking little breaks to re-wet herself and kick her rocks around.

[marisa]

Good on the begging (not feeding).

If she's not eating all the lettuce, I'd give her a bit less (the equivalent of two whole leaves, if it's the kind of lettuce I get, sounds like quite a bit). Try some other foods as well.

Just curious, but how long did you leave the probe under the light? If you just kept it there for a few minutes, try leaving it there for about 20 min. and see if it's the same temp.

78F is the ambient air temp in your apt? Sounds like the tropics. The heating bill must be something.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I mostly just give her the greenest parts of it, but it's probably still a bit too much (obviously since she's not eating it all). I've also got dried krill that she gets about once a month, but from the looks of her she's getting plenty of protein.

I only left it there about a minute. I'll leave it for longer and then get you a new number. I also have some pictures of her that I just took here: http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/ohmg33/Turtle/
They're titled with the date, the first 7 are from today. You can also see how little she was back in October/November.

You can see her trying to bite me in one picture. She gets mad when I take her out of her tank, haha.

And for the most part, yes, haha. I live in the South so most of the time I just don't have the A/C running (it's been in the mid to high 70s lately). I like it warm. My family and friends think I'm a bit odd. But oh well, me and the turtle love it!

Edit: I left it up there for a while and the basking temp is now 85. It was getting up to around 95 so I moved the lamp away a bit.

[TheComputerGremlin]

If 95 was the temp before you measured it and the turtle was basking, I'd leave it. The basking area can be a little higher than 90, esp if the turtle can self-regulate, which by the sounds of it, she is. Honestly, I got my turtle at the end of September and he was eh, about 1.5", I can't honestly say I know how big he was but he wasn't "the size of a quarter" like hatchlings are described. So, we got our turtles at about the same time. And he's about 3.25-3.5" now. (I know, maybe "he's" a "she", I don't know honestly.) His growth has slowed considerably in the last two months, though, so I wasn't worried. As long as there is no sign of pyramiding and the growth is slowing and you aren't overfeeding, I wouldn't be super-concerned.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Yeah, I was just worried that it was a bit too hot for her. She just seemed to get so big, so fast, I thought I would ask just in case. I think I was overfeeding her slightly so I've cut back on her pellets a bit as marisa suggested.

I have no idea as to the gender of course. For a long time I called my turtle "he", but the nails are so short and her tail looks like a female's tail so I've started calling her "she". I'm still hoping that maybe she's a late bloomer and she'll sprout huge claws once she hits 4" haha.

[amsude]

We are doing the same thing. One day he might be a she but we will see. Our turtle did grow about an inch in a half in 6 months. Things have slowed down a lot which got me nervous for awhile but figured i don't want him to keep growing.

[moonlighter]

If you look back on Jan 30, I posted a similar question. My turtle was hatched on Nov. 15 and 4.5 months later it is 3". I am starting to believe it is just genetic.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Ah I must've missed that one. I guess each turtle is just different.

[penelope]

As Sgt Pepper says, they are all different. Penelope shed her scutes shortly after she came home with us, then her size skyrocketed! I obsessed over feeding her too much, too little, how much of a veggie constitutes a serving? would my ignorance deform her for life?....etc.

Now, I see she is still alive and looking healthy as ever. So, just like a new parent, it may take some trial, error and time before you feel confident that you really are doing things "right"

I'm posting two pictures ~ one of Penelope the day we brought her home (10 months ago) and one we happened to take last night. When you see them, take note that she is sitting on the turtle dock she has had since Day 1 (only her tank is bigger, since she grew so darn fast!). Her shell is dry in the second picture, which is why she doesn't look as vibrant.

[Amg81083]

Oh my! Looks like its time to invest in a new basking dock!!!
Both turtles are gorgeous.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Haha, I actually said, "Oh my god" outloud when I saw the second picture.

She seems to be doing okay. I've never had any problems with her. I think she might have been slightly overfed because I noticed that when I feed my fish, the turtle eats quite a bit of the fish food in addition to her own food!

I just recently bought her a new basking dock because her old one was sinking like that, haha.