in a few years. Different grass tortoises have different ink time, but most of them will start to ink in 3-5 years. Inking occurs only in male grass turtles, and their color deepens after sexual maturity. The order of inking is first the head, then the limbs. Because of the different hormones in their bodies, the time of each tortoise ink is also different. Some tortoises will be inked in about three years, while others will take about five years. The degree of inking is mainly affected by the secretion of male hormones. Turtles that secrete more male hormones will be darker, while turtles that secrete less male hormones will be lighter.
generally promote grass turtles ink from two aspects, the first aspect is feeding, high-protein food will accelerate the ink of grass turtles. Feeding high-protein foods such as small fish, shrimps and tubificidae will make male grass turtles secrete more male hormones, thus promoting their ink. If you want to make them darker, you can feed them more high-protein foods. Temperature,
on the other hand, affects their metabolic activity. If the temperature is too low, the metabolism of the grass turtle will be inhibited and the secretion of male hormones will be slowed down. Excessive temperature will affect their health. If we want to promote their inking, it is better to control the feeding temperature at about 26 C. At this temperature, the life activity of grass turtles is the highest, which is most conducive to inking.