General Care Discussion :: Is there such a thing as a runt turtle?

[boogies72949]

I got 2 hatchling red ear slider turtles out of the same hatch. One was green like it should be & one was turquoise... Anyway I have had them about 4 months. They both seem really healthy. I have all the lighting they need, temp is correct in water & basking areas, they get good food. The green one has doubled in size & the turquoise one is stunted. I don't think it has grown at all. I thought the green one might be eating all the food so I started hand feeding the little one about a month ago & still no change. Is this normal? Do some just grow faster than others or is he a runt or something? He is so cute, It wouldn't bother me if he stayed little forever, but I just wanted to make sure something isn't wrong. Signed, worried about my baby [/b]

[BullDog]

Usually if one is growing a lot more than the other, the bigger one is hogging all the food. Have you tryed separating them when you feed them?
That being said, I've noticed there are several posts about the different sizes of similarly aged turts, so they may also have different growth rates.
A month of hand feeding probably isn't long enough to see a difference in size.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Sometimes one just grows faster than the other one. Separating them when they eat is a good idea.

[marisa]

Welcome. Turtles can have different growth rates, and some are just smaller than others due to genetics. I do have a painted runt from a clutch of turtles. He is smaller in size and lighter in weight than the others. But he's healthy, active and eats well. Is your turtle healthy otherwise?

Just curious, but what size tank are they in and how big are they (shell lengths without the curve). If the tank is too small for them, it could be stressing him out, which could affect his growth.

To see if he's actually growing at all, it would be good to get into the habit of weighing him once a month (around the same time, say, at the beginning or end of the month); you can use a regular diet scale for this. Measuring him at the same time and keeping a record of both would be good, just to have concrete evidence of growth (or not).

[edgerton]

i have two as well, i think they are probably about a month apart in age.. but, the older one is like double the size and im not sure the smaller one has grown since i got it about a month ago... i kinda wish they would stay small forever to be honest..