How old is our Hermann's tortoise?

Chip's mom

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Hi all!
We ordered a yearling ornate box turtle from an online breeder. When it arrived it looked larger than expected and more like a tortoise. We researched and determined it's an Eastern Hermann's tortoise. The breeder confirmed the mistake. We love him so we're pleased with the mistake.

I think that we correctly identified him as a male based on his long tail with spike and concave shell. We're curious how old he probably is? His shell is 4.5" long. It seems to have some pyramiding so we're making sure his enclosure is the right humidity level. Glad to find this group!

chip.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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He looks two or three years old, but hard to tell from a picture.
 

Chip's mom

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Thanks! That's what we were guessing if males are around 5-8" fully grown and he's currently 4.5".
 

Krista S

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They all grow at different rates, but my Eastern Hermann’s tortoise is 5 inches long and he will be 2 years old in May. Yours sounds like it would be older than this because of how you mentioned his shell being concave already. Mine is a confirmed male but his plastron hasn’t started to show as concave yet.
 

Chip's mom

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Thank you! That's a good point. We just looked again and his plastron is definitely concave and tail is quite long. I bet he's a bit older than yours but a slower grower or will be small.
 
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