How to tell the age of a sulcata tortoise

By Tamara Labelle 15 Jun 2016. It is difficult to tell the gender of a baby sulcata tortoise.

However they do not reach adulthood or sexual maturity that early.

How to tell the age of a sulcata tortoise. How to Tell The Age of a Sulcata Tortoise. Some people claim that counting the rings on a tortoise is about like counting the rings on a tree. The larger sections of growth equal a year.

But this isnt necessarily true. The ringson a tortoise mark periods of growth. The most accurate way of knowing your sulcata tortoise age is by getting it from a breeder who has the record of their birth.

But if your sulcata tortoise age is unknown keep reading this article to know how you can accurately estimate their age. Look for a smoothed-out shell in a centenarian tortoise. Tortoises can live long enough for their shells to experience erosion from rainfall and blowing sand.

Over time the bumps rings and ridges of the scutes can become smoothed out. Generally speaking a wild tortoise. Unless you know their hatch date you cant tell their age.

They grow at different rates. Your smaller one could be older than the larger one. Often when sulcatas are kept together one will stay small because he is being bullied by the larger one.

All baby sulcata tortoises and young tortoises look female. It can take years before you can accurately identify the gender of your sulcata. In order to accurately determine if your sulcata is male or female the tortoise should be about 15 pounds and about 12 inches long.

To tell a turtles age start by counting the number of rings inside one of the scales on the turtles shell. Then divide that number in half to get a general estimate of the turtles age. You can also estimate a turtles age.

It is not possible to tell the age of a tortoise by looking at it. There is a common belief that counting the rings that appear on the shell of a tortoise yields the number of years the turtle has been alive but the formation of rings on a tortoise shell is not regular. Its already a fact that sulcata tortoises grow fast especially in their first 5 10 years of life.

However they do not reach adulthood or sexual maturity that early. Sexual maturity usually marks adulthood which is from the age of 10. At this age they would weigh about 40 pounds and can be bred.

Sulcata tortoises also known as African spurred tortoises can weigh on average 200 pounds and measure 24 to 36 inches long when fully grown making them the third largest tortoise on Earth. We take him outside every day its possible stupid MN weather. Here is one of the most interesting of the top 10 facts about Sulcata tortoise if you want to calculate its age all you need to do is count the number of the growth rings on its body.

This will help you to determine the animals age. A veterinarian may be able to estimate the animals age based on shell condition overall size etc but theres no way to pinpoint it. No you can t tell a tortoises age by counting the growth rings on its scutes those only denote periods of faster growth.

What does a tortoise look like when it dies. How can I tell the age of a sulcata tortoise. My brother just gave me one as a gift I am pretty sure it is a boy he is 32 grams and 3 inches long.

Ask Your Own Reptile Question. Answered in 10 minutes by. It is difficult to tell the gender of a baby sulcata tortoise.

Determining if a sulcata tortoise is a male or female takes a lot of patience – about five years worth of patience. That is because both sexes look the same when they are hatchlings. Sulcatas are born with flat plastrons bottom shells.

This is how you determine the sex of a Sulcata Tortoise most tortoise species can be determined the same way. The African spurred tortoise Geochelone sulcata occurs along the southern edge of the Sahara from Senegal and Mauritania east through Mali Niger Chad the Sudan Ethiopia along the Red Sea in EritreaBiogeographic Regions. The Sulcata tortoise lives in hot arid environments of the Sahelian type.

Baby Sulcatas are born at around two inches in size. Their growth rate will vary greatly based on their diet enclosure and environment. Healthy tortoises will reach seven inches at one year old and gain five to ten pounds each year.

They are very slow growers and wont reach their adult size until 15 to 20 years old. By its hatching date. A veterinarian may be able to estimate the animals age based on shell condition overall size etc but theres no way to pinpoint it.

No you cant tell a tortoises age by counting the growth rings on its scutes - those o. By Tamara Labelle 15 Jun 2016. Did you know a tortoise can live so long because of its slow metabolism.

The worlds oldest tortoise is 184 and you can measure a tortoises length using a pen and piece of paper. To know how to determine the age of land tortoises you need to know the structure of their shell. First we will get acquainted with the most overlanda turtle because before you start this reptile in the house you must at least learn a little about it.

So the land tortoise its Central Asian its also a steppe turtle.