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I have two female res turtles, Jessy and Tiny. They are both about 4 yrs old. They have been housed together. They both eat well and properly. But this is where there is a big difference. Jessy is about 6 - 7 inches and Tiny is still only about 2 inches. She does not appear to be deformed in any way but she just has not grown. Unfortunately I was keeping records of her exact weight and length but with my last move all was lost, so now I have to start over again, but I was just curious if anyone else has run into this and if so has or is the turtle living a normal healthy life? Also should I seperate them now that there is such a marked difference in size? I did a turlte rescue for about 4 yrs but have never run into this situation before any info would be helpful.

Joyce

I replied to your thread in the welcome area, asked a few questions regarding the situation.

I agree with what Jaysea replied in the previous post. 2 inches @ 4 years is pretty small, so it's even possible Tiny has a genetic defect. However, it's usually one turtle out competing the other and the resulting size difference should make it necessary to keep them separate.

I think you should consider having a fecal exam run on "tiny", Parasites can sometimes stunt growth.

this might sound random...but this topic makes me wonder is there such a term for midget turtle? Is that even possible?

i was thinking midget as well because i do not feed them in their tanks, they have been fed in seperate containers for the three years i have had them. I got them from a friend who does turtle education and since they werent very outgoing turtles she did not want to stess them out by taking them to classrooms anymore. The kids really seemed awed by the larger turles anyway which she wanted because she wanted them to learn early that those cute little turtles don't stay that way for long.

mm it hasn't been as long as four years for me but i think i have the same problem. Two turtles, both male, one grew to 4 inches in the two months i've had him but the other is only 1 inch big and seems to remain that way! I think it's quite odd since he's about the size of a 10p coin at a year old and thats very very small. (Also very very cuute >W<)

I am no expert but id say that it definately has to do with genetics. But i also think you should check other things for stunted growth.