General Care Discussion :: Is he done growing?

[bently11]

I've had my Bently for a long time, and he's about 3-4 years old now and he's still the same size. His shell is exactly 4 inches long, which to me seems pretty small. Whenever I see other RES turtles, they're way bigger! He's in a 90 gallon tank. I had him only in a 10 gallon tank with no UVB for a long time, since he just got his mega upgrade in June. I feel really bad about it but now he's got a nice big tank and an MVB. Did living in his old setup for about 3 years cause him to be small?

[mikee]

YEP!

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Probably it caused him to be smaller then he should but he is not done growing that is for sure, turtles never stop growing. There growth rate just slows.

Measure him and write it down and then measure again in month or two and you should see he has grown some even if it is a couple centimeters. It will show you he is growing.

[LittleResQNorth]

Turtle growth is not dependent on their habitats. Turtles growth can be stunted from their diets but generally they grow no matter how big they're tank is (which is why our rescue has over 100 turtles, because they're growth is uncontrolable). I have a 18 year old male that's 5 inches and a 3 year old male that 6 inches, turtles are like people, they grow differently. Don't worry about it.

[bently11]

Thanks guys! I'm hoping he'll grow a little because my parents are mad that we got him such a big tank, even though he's small.

[vear]

I'm willing to bet he'll still grow some. Even if he doesn't get huge, you'll just have a really happy turtle! They looove to swim. For now since he's small you can buy different ornaments he can explore.