# How long do tortoises live for ?



## Samparker (Sep 27, 2011)

I, I am looking into getting a tortoise, what is the adverage life span?


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## dmarcus (Sep 27, 2011)

*RE: How long to tortoiss live for ?*

It will depend on what kind of tortoise you plan on getting, they all have different life spans...


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## chairman (Sep 27, 2011)

*RE: How long to tortoiss live for ?*

I believe that you can safely assume that a tortoise will live between 35 and 150 years. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that many species of tortoise have been kept in captivity long enough for solid data on their captive lifespans.


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## GBtortoises (Sep 27, 2011)

*RE: How long to tortoiss live for ?*

The average lifespan of tortoises has always been debated. Some sources say it depends upon species, some say that tortoises from different climates survive longer (or shorter), some say most live 50 years, some say 100 years, etc, etc...

Basically, in captivity, if it's cared for correctly, a tortoise should live a long, long time.


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## Samparker (Sep 27, 2011)

*RE: How long to tortoiss live for ?*

I am looking at a Herman


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## GBtortoises (Sep 27, 2011)

*RE: How long to tortoiss live for ?*

Well I've had my oldest Eastern Hermann's for 21 years. I got her from someone who had her for 15 years before that. He got her as a wild caught adult and estimated that she was about 15-20 years old then. So that would put her at around 51-56 years old plus right now. She doesn't look a day over 45! LOL I think she still has a lot of years in her.


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## chase thorn (Sep 27, 2011)

*RE: How long to tortoiss live for ?*



GBtortoises said:


> Well I've had my oldest Eastern Hermann's for 21 years. I got her from someone who had her for 15 years before that. He got her as a wild caught adult and estimated that she was about 15-20 years old then. So that would put her at around 51-56 years old plus right now. She doesn't look a day over 45! LOL I think she still has a lot of years in her.



thats incredible :]


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## lynnedit (Sep 28, 2011)

You read about people inheriting their torts from their grandmother, decades old. Incredible. Does make one want to plan ahead a bit...


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## Madkins007 (Sep 28, 2011)

The key point to remember in this is 'with good care'. Sadly, many captive tortoises do not make it to 20 years.


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## Tom (Sep 28, 2011)

I read a "Readers Digest" Article several years ago that speculated that turtles and tortoises live until something kills them. Meaning that they don't really have a "lifespan". They listed many verifiable examples of chelonians that were well over 100 years in captivity. They were collected as adults from the wild. How does one even keep track of something for 100 years. I can't hardly find last year's tax documents. Husbandry advances greatly every year too. I think it will be a couple more decades until we "perfect" the art of tortoise keeping and then a couple hundred years for us to raise up thousands of individuals from many species and just start to get a feel for what their lifespans MIGHT be.

To give you a more useful answer: If you get a healthy tort to start with and raise and maintain it well, it should live for many decades. Probably longer than you or me.


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