Box Turtle Age

[chibicricket]

1 of my eastern box turtles, Herman, is from the wild, was a rehab situation given to me after he was attacked by a dog. He has shell damage, and part of his lower jar area was damaged. I've had him about 5 years now. He's old, don't know how old though. Is there any real way to tell? Someone once told me to count the rings on his shell, but I don't know how accurate that is because they all seem to be worn down. I'm guessing he's probably a lot older than 15 or 20 years if I go by that.

 

[chibicricket]

Here's a picture of him from when I had to get him registered with my state that shows his entire shell.

 

[Neal]

I’d put it at greater than 30 years old for sure, possibly much older. I just saw a few box turtles that I had 20 years ago as adults, and they still had visible rings.

 

[chibicricket]

Oh wow, thanks!

 

[ZenHerper]

There's not really any way to tell after full maturity...the keratin growth rings don't mean anything age-wise.

But he's really pretty!

 

[chibicricket]

Here's a better picture. He's sweet. I keep him partial indoors/outdoors in the summer, indoors in the winter. We built a big outdoor hutch that does have a locking lid, but we do have coyotes and foxes in the area. So if I'm not outside, he comes back in with me. My two juvies that I also have are in a huge enclosure inside.

 

[ZenHerper]

His face doesn't look super-old...I'd say young-middle-aged guy.

 

[chibicricket]

Aside from his shell, he still looks pretty good. He's always got bright orange coloring. He's a little picky with food, but I've figured out if I mix it up in the food processor with some of his favorites, he will eat no problem. Loves hard boiled eggs. But you can see some of the dog bite marks. There's an entire tiny section missing by his tail.

 

[Neal]

That's a handsome turtle.

His shell has a lot of wear and age on it. There truly is no way to tell for certain as there could be so many factors that affect how the shells appears other than age, so its anyone's guess. In my experience a box turtle with this amount of wear on the shell is more likely a couple/few decades old.

No matter the age, he can still have many good years ahead of him. Do you have any females? I think it would be a great thing to have a handsome male like this as part of a captive breeding group.

 

[chibicricket]

That's a handsome turtle.

His shell has a lot of wear and age on it. There truly is no way to tell for certain as there could be so many factors that affect how the shells appears other than age, so its anyone's guess. In my experience a box turtle with this amount of wear on the shell is more likely a couple/few decades old.

No matter the age, he can still have many good years ahead of him. Do you have any females? I think it would be a great thing to have a handsome male like this as part of a captive breeding group.

I do have a captive bred juvie pair of box turtles that originally the plan was going to be that. Unfortunately, as of July 1st, the laws in my state changed and banned box turtles. If I do get a clutch of eggs at all, I was told I had to destroy them. Which makes no sense to me at all, it's so hard to get captive bred, and the wild caughts are getting scooped up in large numbers to be sold. All box turtles have to registered now, but after July 1st, you can't have any new ones, give them away or sell them. Luckily one of my daughters loves them, because probably gonna have to put the younger 2 in my will, lol.