General Care Discussion :: Slow Growth: Should I be concerned?

[~jorjor~]

Ok so I got my two turtles as hatchlings about 7 months ago and as far as I can see they haven't grown much at all. I measured them the other day, and my one turtle Filmore is a little over (maybe 1.2-1.3) inches if I just measure the shell, so is my other turtle Thrasher.

As far as I know I'm doing all the nessecary steps to keep them healthy, they get 5 hours of unfiltered sunlight daily, I keep their water clean,they have a heater, they have plenty of room to swim around, I feed them a balanced and varied diet. I've been giving them pellets(combo of Reptomin and Zoo-Med hatchling) 5 days a week and frozen food(bloodworms, frozen carnivorous fish food, or frozen snail meat) 2-3 times a week. Enough to fill their head, and as of about a month ago they've been getting unlimited greens 5 days a week. I put a big piece of dark leafy lettuce or dandelion in there daily for them to snack on throughout the day, which they took to very quickly). Finally they get raw liver once a month. Overall they get fed 5-6 days a week. Aside from their seemingly stalled growth they are both alert, active, bask all the time, and have good appetites. I've asked this on a couple other boards, many say assuming your doing everything right and your turtles are healthy otherwise to not worry about it,and that very slow growth is better than rapid growth, though a couple users said I should be concerned, and asked if I was doing x and y, which I usually was. I'm personally not overly concerned as they seem fine but I'm just trying to gather some more opinions. Thanks

And heres some pics. I had to hold onto them b/c they kept trying to run off, lol.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

ID say bump up the feeding. For hatchlings feed the pellets every day even with combo of greens and stuff. Also just my personal way of raising hatchlings dont be afraid to go over the head amount rule. As hatchlings they can take that extra food. Then once they hit 3inches i drop food intake and then follow the rules. Always worked for me.

Also its still fine if they dont grow. In some cases that means something is wrong with the turtle and it dies. At 7months your turtles are past that stage where if it was a problem it would of died.

[steve]

Genetics can also play a role. At this early stage, perhaps taking size and weight measurements would be a good idea.

[Linus]

They must be some of those micro turtles people are always buying! lol

DB4L is right on this one. Also, maybe drop the bloodworms to once a week.

[~jorjor~]

They must be some of those micro turtles people are always buying! lol

DB4L is right on this one. Also, maybe drop the bloodworms to once a week.

Haha yeah who knows, my friend bought them for my birthday from some shop in Chinatown, although she got her turtles 4 months before me from the same place and they've definitely grown, perhaps she has females.

and I'll drop the frozen bloodworms to once a week, just curious as to why though, too much protein?, too little protein, too little nutrition? And should I continue feeding the snail meat/frozen fish food at the same frequency?

[Kado]

When I got Kado 2 months ago he was about that size, but now he is almost double that..maybe Kado is not a he..

[slider_keeper]

Mine grow at a slow rate, like really slow rate. He turned out to be a male, at 2 yrs of age he barely hit 3 in. Then he hit his growth spur, at 2 1/2 yrs., he is 4 in. Grew 1/2 an inch in 6 months. As long as you are feeding according to this sites recoomendations, I wouldn't worry about a thing. I got confused a little but then realized it was a genetic thing going on.

[~jorjor~]

Yeah perhaps it's just a matter of genetics. I guess I wont sweat it too much, they'll probably start growing sooner or later, in the meantime they seem fine.

[slider_keeper]

As long as they are eating, active and basking they should be fine.