How do I know how old my cherry headed red foot is

zovick

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The only way to know the true age of your tortoise is to know its hatch date. If you do not have that information from the actual breeder of the animal, anything else you may be told is just a guesstimate, which, in my experience, are almost always understated by sellers (either accidentally or purposely), so that buyers think they are getting a much younger tortoise than they are actually receiving.

Looking at your photos and the size of the tortoise, I would say it is reasonably old, perhaps even as much as 10 to 12 years old or so.
 

Raphthetort

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The only way to know the true age of your tortoise is to know its hatch date. If you do not have that information from the actual breeder of the animal, anything else you may be told is just a guesstimate, which, in my experience, are almost always understated by sellers (either accidentally or purposely), so that buyers think they are getting a much younger tortoise than they are actually receiving.

Looking at your photos and the size of the tortoise, I would say it is reasonably old, perhaps even as much as 10 to 12 years old or so.
Thanks the breeder told me about 4 years. He’s a little over 8”, and based on what I’ve read it seemed a bit off. I mainly want to understand what is considered juvenile, or adult. He’s a happy guy that loves SWFL, hates a cage and loves wandering around the lanai and chilling with the cats.
We are in the process of building an outdoor space for the daytime so he can chill in the grass, even though when we bring him outside in the grass he hates it 😂
 

zovick

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Thanks the breeder told me about 4 years. He’s a little over 8”, and based on what I’ve read it seemed a bit off. I mainly want to understand what is considered juvenile, or adult. He’s a happy guy that loves SWFL, hates a cage and loves wandering around the lanai and chilling with the cats.
We are in the process of building an outdoor space for the daytime so he can chill in the grass, even though when we bring him outside in the grass he hates it 😂
You say "the breeder told you about 4 years".

Are you sure that person actually bred the tortoise or not? If the person from whom you got the tortoise did breed it himself, he should know when it hatched, at the very least least the correct year. If he/she DID breed the tortoise, then I am mistaken in my thoughts of the age.

Just my opinion here, but I would venture a guess that the person who sold you the tortoise did not breed and hatch it, but was reselling it and had no real idea of its age.

Not that it makes a huge difference for your purposes, but the tortoise looks older than 5 years to me and I would say it is quite probably double that. I would personally call him a young adult.

Good luck with your project. If you provide him with a lot of dappled shade and hiding places, he will love being in the new pen.
 

Dragon

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michagin
I dont answer posts very often because i am a new tort owner myself and really dont have a clue as to what im doing lol. My russion sissy is doing pretty good now but when i first got her we were given all kinds of wrong information. Thanks to the people here she now has the proper sized house the right lighting and the right temp....she is a much happy tort...What ever age you little tort is he/she sure is a cutie
 

ZEROPILOT

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Cherryheads grow a bit slower and stay a bit smaller that the "regular" Redfoot.
This is a young adult.
And a nice looking one with mild pyramiding that is well within the norm.
Certainly older than 4 years. And I'd lean towards @zovick with that theory.
 
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