Tortie Esi

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Minno
Posts: 4
Joined: 21 Jun 2021, 16:47

Tortie Esi

Post by Minno » 21 Jun 2021, 16:55

Hello Everyone, My name in Minno.Las year I started to be obsessed with having a tortoise as a pet, well I was fascinated about them.It took me months until I decided which spices to choose and in the end when I finally decided I bought a baby on the Tortoise centre website.They announced me via email my tortoise will arrive on a Friday after 3pm and as I was confident that would be the case ,when it was about 1pm I went out for some shopping knowing that I will be home by 3 when they planned to bring him/her to me.When I arrived home a small box was placed in front of my door and when I opened it was my little Esi
I felt si frustrated because he has been delivered as a normal package when I fact he is a live being.
Anyway, taking care of him for one year, I was confident he is about 2 years but when u left him in care of a dear lady who s taking care of them for 23 yrs she told me it is very small and I am still confused by the age of him/her.can you please advise how can u figure out his age as I cannot distinguish very clear rings on his scutes

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Nina
Posts: 1993
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: Tortie Esi

Post by Nina » 21 Jun 2021, 17:08

Hi Minno, and welcome to The Tortoise Table. And congratulations on giving a home to little Esi.

It is very unfortunate that the delivery person just left little Esi in a box on your doorstep, as though he was any old package, but he seems to have survived and hopefully is flourishing under your care.

Despite what some people think, you cannot tell the age of a tortoise by the rings on its shell. Rings just indicate growth and if the tortoise grows fast he will have several rings in one year, so that is not a good way. Actually there is no one way to tell a tortoise's age, unless you know the date of birth. And some tortoises of the same species will be bigger than other tortoises of the same age and species, just like some people are bigger and some are smaller. Also, of course, different species of tortoise are different sizes. Did you get any documentation from The Tortoise Centre when you got him to say when he was born?

We can do a rough estimate based on size and weight. What species is Esi, and how much does he weigh? Also, how long is he? There is a guide to the special way you need to measure length of a tortoise here: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tor ... NC4d0zTXwo Also, if you coul post a photo of Esi, that helps us too.

Actually, it is not bad if Esi is a bit on the small side, so I wouldn't worry. Many people feed tortoises too much, and they grow too quickly and develop deformed shells, so you want to aim for very slow growth (no more than 1g - 3g per month, on average), and that will ensure that he has a nice smooth shell and is healthy. Also, if you tell us the species I can send you a link to a good care sheet if you don't already have one.

Hope that helps, and we look forward to hearing from you,
Nina

Minno
Posts: 4
Joined: 21 Jun 2021, 16:47

Re: Tortie Esi

Post by Minno » 21 Jun 2021, 18:26

He is a horsfield.they say it hatched in June 2020.
He weights today 112.7g and he is 7.7cm lenght of the shell.it says photo is too large to be attached, may u send it via email?

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Nina
Posts: 1993
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: Tortie Esi

Post by Nina » 21 Jun 2021, 21:33

Hi Minno,

I see that you have just posted in another thread and said he is about one year and four months, but in the other post you said he was born in June 2020, so that would make him only just one year old. 112g is a little big for one year, but it is OK. Just make sure that he doesn't grow too fast and he will be fine. Keep records of his growth and then if he is gaining too fast (you aim for an average gain of between 1g - 3g per month) then you can cut down on his food a little.

For your photos, do you have a way to reduce them in size? If not then send them to me at nina@thetortoisetable.org.uk and I will reduce them and post them here for you.

Nina

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