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age???????
Posted: 29/03/2010 by ben123

just wondering how old my tortoise is, he is 226g , his shell lenght is 3.5 inch , and he is fully 4.5inchs , any suggegestions???

 

Re: age???????
Posted: 01/04/2010 by TPGDarren

Hi Ben,

I would guess he's not very old, but appears to heve been grown too fast and is lacking from calcium/vitamin D3

Can you please confirm what species your tortoise is as there are care sheets on the homepage of the website which may help.

Have you had him long please?

Kindest Regards
Darren

Re: age???????
Posted: 09/04/2010 by ben123

He is a horsefield!

Re: age???????
Posted: 09/04/2010 by TPGDarren

Hi Ben,

I was pretty sure he was - just wanted to make sure.
He's probably quite young, Horsfield tortoises are notorious for growing very smoothly, so it would appear he has been overfed at some point in time and probably been on the wrong diet (possible lack of supplementation). He really needs to be on a strict diet, as irregular shell growth will also be reflected in his bone growth, so it is imperative his growth is slowed down so all nutrients can be concentrated on strengthening the shell and bones.

Have you seen the Tortoise Table website at all - it really is excellent and should help in providing a wide range of foods, which would be greatly beneficial with supplemantation:-

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/tortoise_home_1.asp

HTH
Kindest Regards
Darren


 

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