How Old is He? Wild or Captive?

kiramcathey

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About a month ago, we got our Russian tortoise from a previous owner. She had no clue how old he was, she also got him from someone else. I know that he’s a boy, but I can’t tell how old he is. His shell is about 5 inches from head to tail (but not including the head and tail). Also wondering if he was bred in captivity or caught from the wild.
 

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MichaelL

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I think he is either full grown, or very close to full grown. At 5 inches a male would be pretty much done growing.

You can tell he is around 10 years old or up by the amount of lines on the scutes. Now this doesn't mean you can tell age from growth lines, but it CAN be used as an estimate for non adults.

You can't really tell the age after they become full grown, (that's why I said yours is 10 or older, could be 50!) because the growth lines don't appear as much, like a 50 year old tortoise may have only 15 lines on a scute, because the growth lines don't keep appearing after it is full grown.

I can tell it's wild caught because after seeing so many pics of captive bred vs wild caught, I can just tell by the way the pattern is and by the growth lines.

I'm not the best at getting this across clearly, as you can see, so my apologies if it's confusing. ?
 

kiramcathey

New Member
Joined
May 3, 2020
Messages
23
Location (City and/or State)
Tucson, AZ
I think he is either full grown, or very close to full grown. At 5 inches a male would be pretty much done growing.

You can tell he is around 10 years old or up by the amount of lines on the scutes. Now this doesn't mean you can tell age from growth lines, but it CAN be used as an estimate for non adults.

You can't really tell the age after they become full grown, (that's why I said yours is 10 or older, could be 50!) because the growth lines don't appear as much, like a 50 year old tortoise may have only 15 lines on a scute, because the growth lines don't keep appearing after it is full grown.

I can tell it's wild caught because after seeing so many pics of captive bred vs wild caught, I can just tell by the way the pattern is and by the growth lines.

I'm not the best at getting this across clearly, as you can see, so my apologies if it's confusing. ?

No that was totally awesome and helpful! I appreciate it. Thanks!
 

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