baby hermans

[16 shells]

new to forum has anyone had past experience of baby hermans not growing very well.
i have two hermans they are about 18 months old. one has not grown since we bought them. they both behave the same,as in eating sleeping, bathing- drinking ect.i have been told by a vet that my husbandry, on keeping them is very good,(for a beginer).they have been wormed two weeks ago so i wonder if the small one,Maggy may start to grow a bit. Alec is four times the size and doing well.The vet seems to think little Maggy might of had a bad start from a hatchling,does anyone have any reassurance on this matter.
Thanks great site, love it.
Paul.

[piglet]

Hi Paul
Hatchling tortoises don't always comply to the law of equal growth vast differences can be seen between hatchlings of the same age and clutch , I have two sister iberas from the same clutch both 3yrs old one is 158g the other is 92g.

If both are feding well enough on a natural weedy diet and have regular soaks I wouldn't worry to much .

Darren

Are you keeping them in open topped enclosures as opposed to a viv. I know you say the vet says you re doing ok but sometimes poor housing and diet can contribute to poor growth. Human salad type food can pass through very quickly as it has little nutrition and so does not contribute to good growth. Let us know how you keep them. As Darren says not all grow at the same rate. The hatchlings I have here vary from 20+ grams to 40+ and all are this years babies!

[16 shells]

Thank you Darren little things go a long way i can rest a while on the big and the small issue.

[16 shells]

Thank you Sue all help appreciated,i am glad to hear that ,or seem to prefer ,tortoise table as ours are in a table for the winter,they have a run out side for better days.i was told by reptile supplyer(local established shop) to mainly feed on weeds dandylions chickweed,clover,smooth thistle?(the one that looks like a long dandylion,i think).
The other thing that concerns me is supplements at the moment i use two Nutrabal and tortoise dust, one day i will use Nutrabal the next the dust.Is this right or wrong.
Thanks Paul.

I would stick to nutrobal Paul, it's formulation is tried and tested

[piglet]

Paul stick to just a sprinkle daily of nutrabol ,the dust you are talking about may have a high phosphourus level as most do tortoises need a low phosphourus diet .

You can buy calcium carbonate (limestone flour )which is basically pure calcium this can be left at lib in a small dish tortoises requireing extra calcium will often eat the raw powder.

Darren

Hi Paul

As others have said, size and growth rates can vary greatly - can you let us know how much they weigh?

Arlene

[16 shells]

Thanks everyone for their answeres im using nutrabal and scraping the tortoise dust.
their wieghts are 52 and 27 grms.
Paul