General Care Discussion

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 3:12 pm **Can a tiny 11 year old slider still grow?**

Hiya, one of my turtles, Freddy, is 11 years old, the oldest of the group but he's the smallest. He's only about 4 inches. His shell color and thickness and everything is just like a regular sized adult. He was like that when I got him from my brother's friend who couldn't keep him anymore 5 years ago, he was already 5 years old at the time.
I feed him like an adult turtle with zoo life's adult maintenance formula, and vegetables, because of his age. But should I feed him a baby turtle diet instead? Is there any chance he'll grow again?

This is him, you can see he has ear abscess though which is going to be removed this Monday

Turtles never stop growing no matter how old they get its just very slow. I would not change his diet and just continue feeding him what you have. Some turtle because of their genetics might not ment to get large.

I am however concerned about the side of his head, it looks like he has large ear abscess. He should be taken to a vet to have that large lump at his head taken care of. That can cause him pain and effect how much he eat because of it.

I know about the ear abscess, I wrote under the picture that it's going to be removed this Monday

I didn't know they don't stop growing, thanks! That's great :] I thought that like humans they can have dwarfism

MaggyCheco wrote:I know about the ear abscess, I wrote under the picture that it's going to be removed this Monday
I didn't know they don't stop growing, thanks! That's great :] I thought that like humans they can have dwarfism

lol wow sorry I didnt notice that under the picture x.x

Lol it's ok I would have missed it too xD

Just keep his diet the same if you where to change it feed him the growth formula by ZooMed
And wow thats a huge ear abscess but thats good he is getting taken care of Monday

Ok maybe that would get him to grow xD because since he's the little one, it's hard for him to get food since the others push him around lol. I wonder how he got the ear abscess anyway, he lives pretty healthy and his tank is always clean..

He's adorable!

You could talk to the vet about his size when you take him in to get his ear checked. I'm sure they would say he's healthy.

I hope the ear thing goes well. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks

Even though it would be great if he grew I'd still miss him being a tiny little turtle :]

Freddy got his surgery today

It went well. I'll show pictures of how it looks tomorrow or so but I wasn't in there for the operation. He was pretty shocked after but according to the bill they gave him a pain thing. The nurse was teaching me how to give him his medication (a syringe every 3 days) but after seeing the blood on his cut and everything (I'm not scared of blood but he's like a son to me so it was scary to see him like that o_o) my hands were shaking too much to do it well. My dad might come over and do it for me since his hands are steadier (he's a way better artist than I am).

Anyway, Freddy also had a wound on his neck that they fixed up. The bill came out to be 336 dollars o_o, I used care credit though, sigh... Anyway I got him his own tank with it's own filter and basking light/area, and two snails to clean stuff up

he's a nicer turtle than the other two so he probably wouldn't eat them. The nurse suggested some things to make their lives healthier: a mercury vapor bulb, a water heater, and a bigger tank. I already knew about the bigger tank which I plan on getting before the petco sale ends... So Freddy seems pretty happy by himself without the big turtles pushing him around xD

Edit: I asked the nurse about his size and she said it's probably from the tank size. Plus he might've gotten the abscess because his previous owner left him with an inch of water and sand so his immune system might have been low, but he's healthy now

Hey Maggy, which vet did you use? I've seen about 4 or 5 different ones in NY and I'm always on the look out for those with good experiences.

I went to the avian and exotic center in 568 columbus ave. They're great and reeaaally know their stuff

Ah, I've heard of them before. Glad things went well!

Male turtles stay relatively small compared to their female counterparts.It's true that turtles never stop growing, but at 11, i doubt your turtle will grow much. His growth was most likely stunted as a juvi due to poor husbandry.
Besides, why would you want him to grow bigger anyway? Bigger turtles need bigger tanks, and bigger tanks mean "bigger" money

True xD But the others push him around when they eat which is sad. They're all friends though and I make sure he gets his share of food. He's adorable at this size anyway, it was mostly a curiousness.

General Care Discussion :: Can a tiny 11 year old slider still grow?

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