How can i estimate a sulcatas age?

[gustaf]

Is there any way to get an approximate estimation of the age of a sulcata if you dont know its birth date? I am thinking about buying a 26"sulcata from an individual. He has only had it for 6 months. He knows nothing of its background history. He says he thinks it looks pretty young. Im thinking it could be anywhere from 10 to 25 years old. Are there any other physical characteristics that can help me get an idea of its age?

 

[Tom]

No. All we could do is guess.

 

[gustaf]

Thanks Tom. Thats what i was afraid of. I figured if anyone would know it would be you.

 

[Tom]

I can give a little insight...


CB babies really were available until the early 90's. They were still importing WC up until around '98. All the WC I saw imported were only about 4" which would make them no more than a year or two. Due to shipping costs, it was not common to send over bigger ones although it is possible that it happened.

So chances are very good that your tortoise is not much older than 20 years, and at only 26" it could be as young as 8 years old. A pic might give us a little more "education" to guess on.

 

[gustaf]

Re: RE: How can i estimate a sulcatas age?

I can give a little insight...


CB babies really were available until the early 90's. They were still importing WC up until around '98. All the WC I saw imported were only about 4" which would make them no more than a year or two. Due to shipping costs, it was not common to send over bigger ones although it is possible that it happened.

So chances are very good that your tortoise is not much older than 20 years, and at only 26" it could be as young as 8 years old. A pic might give us a little more "education" to guess on.

Here is a pic he sent me via text. Does that help any?

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm curious why you care? Tortoises live to be close to 100 years. By the time it gets that old, what's 15 or 20 years one way or the other?

I would say that if he weighs around 100lbs, he's probably around 20 years old.

 

[gustaf]

Re: RE: How can i estimate a sulcatas age?

I'm curious why you care? Tortoises live to be close to 100 years. By the time it gets that old, what's 15 or 20 years one way or the other?

I would say that if he weighs around 100lbs, he's probably around 20 years old.

He said he weighs around 85 lbs. I just think its nice to know the history is all. Not that big of a deal i guess. I like the really big ones. I figure if hes 12 years old or so he still has plenty of growing left to do. If hes 30 then he is probably pretty much done growing for the most part.

 

[diamondbp]

After reading the info and seeing the pictures I would think 15-20 but of course there is no way to tell. Once more.......if ONLY TORTOISES COULD TALK

 

[Tom]

I can't tell much from that pic. Looks like it is captive bred since it had pyramiding at a young age, but looks like it got moved to better conditions and did most of its somewhere with humidity.

 

[littleginsu]

Too bad their shells don't grow like trees and we could just count the rings!

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm curious why you care? Tortoises live to be close to 100 years. By the time it gets that old, what's 15 or 20 years one way or the other?

I would say that if he weighs around 100lbs, he's probably around 20 years old.

He said he weighs around 85 lbs. I just think its nice to know the history is all. Not that big of a deal i guess. I like the really big ones. I figure if hes 12 years old or so he still has plenty of growing left to do. If hes 30 then he is probably pretty much done growing for the most part.

It goes more by the weight than it does the age. He'll get up to around 100lbs, then he'll slow way down in growth, gaining only a pound or so a year.

 

[gustaf]

Re: RE: How can i estimate a sulcatas age?

I'm curious why you care? Tortoises live to be close to 100 years. By the time it gets that old, what's 15 or 20 years one way or the other?

I would say that if he weighs around 100lbs, he's probably around 20 years old.

He said he weighs around 85 lbs. I just think its nice to know the history is all. Not that big of a deal i guess. I like the really big ones. I figure if hes 12 years old or so he still has plenty of growing left to do. If hes 30 then he is probably pretty much done growing for the most part.

It goes more by the weight than it does the age. He'll get up to around 100lbs, then he'll slow way down in growth, gaining only a pound or so a year.

Hi guys. I went ahead and bought the big sulcata i was looking at. The guy i got him from supposedly talked to the original owner and he said it was 15 years old. I think that seems in the ball park. Here are some better pics of him. What do you guys think? Could he be a sudan sulcata? He is 26 "L 19" W and 92 lbs. He's been raised in florida.

---

Those are 18 inch tiles he is on. Dont worry. He wont live inside. He will live outside in a really big yard.

 

[Tom]

I wanna soak him and scrub all the dark crud off of him. Being raised in FL would explain why the growth smoothed out so nicely.

 

[T33's Torts]

Re: RE: How can i estimate a sulcatas age?

I wanna soak him and scrub all the dark crud off of him.

I thought the SAME EXACT THING.

I call that OCD, my friend.

 

[gustaf]

Ya thats what i was thinking too. He probably was started in a dry tank or table then when he got big enough to go outside he benefitted from the high florida humidity.