General Care Discussion :: Gurgi is just barely 3.5 inches...

[Gurgi's Mom]

I have myself a Boy!! There is absolutely no doubt he is Male. Seemed to happen over night. Nice long front claws and a tail that screams male. Do you think this is an indication that he'll be on the small side? He is an Eastern Painted, with a bit of Mid-land. I've read they could range anywhere from 4" to 6"... how accurate is that for Painteds?

Still waiting for him to have a really good shed. How much is lack of shedding due to diet and how much is due to insufficient UVB? I am really trying to be patient... but now I see that his marginal scutes are showing some serration... is this an indication of too quick growth... or just simply lack of shedding. Ugh!

He had his 1st birthday on June 1st (not to mention my 1 year anniversary as a turtle keeper). Loving it - Awesome Animal & Hobby!

[steve]

Sounds accurate. Yeah, I was caught off guard when my little RES turned into Freddy Krueger. As for shedding.... how often is he basking?

[Gurgi's Mom]

Unfortunately, I am unable to accurately answer that because he never stays on his basking area if I walk in the room. I am pretty confident it is no less than 4 hours per day. There appears to be what looks like tiny air pockets forming under some scutes... I hope that is a good sign.

[AlexisAwesome]

My male has short medium sized claws and scratches really bad.

[paige742698]

is 3,5 inches abnormaly small for my 5 year old male red eared slider? because Ive been kinda worried he's too small and I was expecting him to be bigger. I read that it was even illegal to sell red eared sliders under 4 inches in the States (I live in Canada) so I was expecting him to get at leased that big, and sooner!

[Diamondbacks4Life]

The painted will stay usually ar the 4inch range, painted males stay very small.

is 3,5 inches abnormaly small for my 5 year old male red eared slider? because Ive been kinda worried he's too small and I was expecting him to be bigger. I read that it was even illegal to sell red eared sliders under 4 inches in the States (I live in Canada) so I was expecting him to get at leased that big, and sooner!

That is very small for a 5 year old male res.

[paige742698]

Do you think something could be stunting his growth? I've had a couple problems with him over the years like metabolic bone disease when I got him from the pet store but that was easily fixed with cuttle bone. I also noticed more recently that he might have retained scutes and so I got him a different heat lamp. He shed most of his scutes since then and is looking a lot better. Could this possibly have been keeping him from growing? If yes, will he grow now or with he be forever runty? Apart from his size there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. He's active and eats EVERYTHING. I was also wondering if maybe I was underfeeding him and that's why he's so small. I'm scared to start feeding him more because last time I tried that he started looking pretty chubby and he already has a little bit of pyramiding from an accidental over feeding when I first got him. Right now I feed him about 12 pellets every 2 days and usually feed him whatever vegetables I can find in between although sometimes especially in the winter I tend to rely on the pellets. When I do feed him vegetables I usually give him as much dandelion leaves as he wants or carrot tops. I also give him romaine lettuce sometimes and carrots and pea pods and cucumber.. really whatever I can find in my fridge that I've read isn't bad for him. Does that seem like a good amount of food for a 3.5 inch turtle? If anyone has any idea what might be wrong or can help in any way It would be appreciated!

[steve]

Previous issues could have a lasting effect. Cuttle bone alone will not help against MBD, you will also need plenty of UVB rays. The amount of pellets sound fine, though I would get him veggies everyday.