Hatchling growth and predation.
 

I've been thinking about the growth rate of hatchlings in their first few years. I know a lot of people believe they should restrict food and grow them very slowly but talking to people on here, there are many who allow unrestricted eating and who's torts grow quickly. I myself have a 2 year old who has grown quickly and now measures 6 inches.
My theory is that in the wild a tiny hatchling would be at great risk of predation at such a small size. Therefore would it not make sense for them to be programmed to grow quickly in order to lessen the chances of predation?
My 2 year olds growth has slowed considerably, she has barely grown in the past couple of months even though she is still eating as much as she wants.

Darwin has a small pile of leaves etc and grazes when he wants it. :-) xx

:mrgreen: Wendy gets it

Danny

I'm not just a pretty face Danny.;)

The nuns trained you well ;)

Danny

Becci doesn't get it! :oops:

Like Wendy said :D hatchlings in the wild are just little packages of goodness for a predator. So the best way to survive is not to be seen and grow as quickly as possible. This way less and less predators will be able to snack on you the bigger you get.

Danny

I agree with this theory, I wonder where the idea that we must only feed limited amounts and grow slowly come from, I used to do this, then joined SW and started feeding unlimited food, mine don't eat massive amounts by their own choice, some are growing a little faster than others, none are growing alarmingly fast, and all are growing with beautiful shells. You could say this has been my own experiment , and it's worked out well. I do keep them all well hydrated. It's an interesting subject.

it is interesting, its not like a dog that is naturally a hunter and scavenger and will eat as much and as often as they can as in the wild (way back when they were) they would not have know when they would next get a meal, and this instinct has never left them.
More like a cow or sheep that is a natural grazer and will happily eat till they are full as food is always in abundance and doesn't really go off, just grows...
If the tortoise is outside in a well planted enclosure they will eat what they want in much the same way...
I had never thought of the importance of fast growth to protect against predation, but it is very logical...

I suppose we must also remember that in the med, as the summer goes on the supply of food dwindles to nothing , so by July and August there's little or no food left. So how do our continuous supply of food affect growth. So in the wild they are not eating none stop all year round, and not growing all year round, does this make a difference, I hibernate mine, so they have that break from eating and growing, which they have evolved to do in the wild, does this have any effect on on how well the shell grows. I just wonder if all year round eating and growing is not good for shell growth.( I expect this will open a huge can of worms) I'm not saying it is or it isn't , I'm just wondering, that's all.