Jennifer Coates, veterinary advisor with petMD, says that Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise who lives on the island of Saint Helena, holds the current longevity record for a living tortoise. Adam Denish of Rhawnhurst Animal Hospital in Pennsylvania has seen, up close and personal, just how long some turtles can survive. If you saw this amazing 52 pound animal, you would assume it was old by its shell, but never would you think it would be over years old.
Many turtle owners are undoubtedly curious as to the age of their pets. Unfortunately, short of being present when they hatch, there really is no definitive way to know how old they are.
Comparing the size of your turtle to one of the same species as an adult is good start. If your turtle was bred in captivity, you can probably shave a few years off its age as turtles tend to grow much faster when their diet is rich and they are well cared for. Turtles will only be able to breed once they reach maturity, so knowing if your turtle has ever bred can also help approximate its age. Turtles generally reach maturity between 5 to 8 years of age, and for tortoises it can be as many as 20 years to reach full maturity.
Much like the rings on the trunk of a tree, as a turtle ages it develops rings in its scutes, the plates that make up its shell. There are several subspecies of this reptile. They get their name from their characteristic shape. They have a dome-shaped shell, or carapace, and a flat, hinged bottom, or plastron.
These two body parts provide protection from the elements and a way to escape predation. The Box Turtle navigate their world quietly and slowly. They are relatively long-lived when you compare them to other pets of a similar size. The Box Turtle is a member of the Emydidae family, which includes reptiles that live in both aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Their defining feature is their shell, which acts as a unique form of protection. As reptiles, they exist primarily in the warmer parts of the planet. However, they are a diverse group of animals that live in a broad range of habitats with varying diets. The Box Turtle is one of the more popular reptilian pets. Many of the Box Turtles that you find in pet stores are native to South Carolina. However, the number of wild Turtles has dwindled in recent years, putting a halt to these practices.
Like many animals, male Box Turtles are larger than females. Therefore, the sex of your pet is a significant factor among the many that you must learn to manage. With over 15 years of experience, Audra specializes in reptiles and exotic animals, environmental education, marine biology, conservation issues, and animal husbandry. She is the founder and Executive Director of Things That Creep, a non-profit dedicated to herptile conservation through education.
She has spent the last six years working as a biologist at the California Academy of Sciences. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed , times. Unless you know when a turtle is born, it's nearly impossible to tell its age. While you can count rings on the turtle's belly, that method is often a better representation of when the turtle had food and when it didn't.
If your turtle is young, you can compare it to the size of other turtles in the species to get an idea of how old it is. To tell a turtle's age, start by counting the number of rings inside one of the scales on the turtle's shell. Then, divide that number in half to get a general estimate of the turtle's age.
You can also estimate a turtle's age using its size. First, measure the turtle from tip to tail. Then, look up a size chart for that species of turtle online and compare the turtle to it to get an idea of how old it is. To learn how to find a size chart for different turtle species, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No. We use cookies to make wikiHow great.
By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Explore this Article parts. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Part 1. Pick one "scute" to count. You want to count rings on the turtle's scutes to help determine age.
The scutes are the scales that cover the turtle's shell. Keep in mind, this method only gives you a very rough estimate, as rings often develop in periods of feast and famine for turtles. In other words, they may develop when the turtle was very hungry or had a lot of food, rather than just in winter and summer. Count the rings.
Diet Eastern box turtles are predominantly carnivorous during their younger years and become more and more herbivorous as they age. Prey items taken by box turtles include, snails, worms, insects, spiders, frogs, snakes lizards, small mammals, and carrion. They also eat fruits, berries, leaves and many types of mushrooms.
Some of the mushrooms consumed by box turtles are very toxic for humans, so it is inferred that the turtles are unaffected by these potential poisons.
Humans eating box turtles that have recently fed on poisonous mushrooms may become quite ill due to the toxins accumulated in the turtles' flesh. Behavior Turtles will forage over an area the equivalent of two football fields over their lives. Adult individuals occupy "home ranges" of variable sizes larger in less favorable habitats or in systems with relatively low population densities, smaller in more favorable or more densely populated habitats. Immature individuals less than nine years of age and many mature, but un-established males move extensively about as "transients.
Box turtles are often found near to each other and can form range-overlapping, socially tolerant groups of three or four individuals. Fighting and other types of aggressive behavior are rare with the exception of occasional "sparring" matches especially between competing males that involve alternative bouts of two individuals biting each other's shells with, obviously, little damage to either individual.
Eastern box turtles walk with a steady, energetic stride holding their heads upright. They can travel 50 yards or more in a single day and posess strong homing instincts that compel them to move in the direction of their home ranges.
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