how to tell age of red footed tortoise

Audra Barrios is a Marine Biologist and the owner of Lick Your Eyeballs, a business offering reptiles, supplies and plants. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. The only way to KNOW the age is to see it be born. This method can only give a very broad estimate. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Then, divide that number in half to get a general estimate of the turtle's age. That means your turtle is roughly 6 years old. Count each thicker ring (which develops during the tortoise’s main annual growth period) and the thinner ring beside it (which develops during the annual slow growth period) as a single ring. How does it affect humans? This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Chelonian Trust Main Page, Differentiating Male and Female Geochelone not appear until the animal is 6 or 7 inches (15 - 18 cm) in length. Lv 7. I really appreciate your work. Remember that this method is not that accurate. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. To learn how to find a size chart for different turtle species, scroll down! If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. % of people told us that this article helped them. Unless a wild tortoise has been tracked from near birth or has died and undergone skeletochronology, even tortoise experts are left having to make a “best guess” about its age. Don’t press on the shell to determine how soft it is! First, measure the turtle from tip to tail. Red Footed Tortoise; ... Leopard Tortoise; Any good breeder or pet shop should be able to tell you whether your tortoise is a tropical species or not, but my advice is always to ask if you’re not sure, and do plenty of research in advance. My tortoise chewed my money, is going to be sick? However, once turtles are over the age of 5 there's not a good way to figure out how old they are. You might want to ask a vet or check at the pet store or shelter you bought the turtle from to see if they have any records. A tortoise with 30 rings could easily be 20 or 40 years old (if not even 10 or 50), for instance.