New Tort!!!

[tortacular]

Hey guys,

I just bought my first tort from petco a few weeks ago. I have him in a storage container with cyprus mulch. The guy at PETCO, told me he is 1.5 yrs old. I doubt that, as he is 4.5 inches long and his shell isn't completely smooth. Here are some pictures, please tell me if anything looks weird





Also, he weighs 399.3g. That's an increase of 20g from when I bought him 21 days ago. How old would you guess he is? Or is it even possible to tell?

Thanks and any help is appreciated!

 

[dmmj]

welcome, for a petco russian I think he looks pretty good, I highly doubt he is only 1 and a half. A petco russia is always 100 percent wild caught, not that ther eis anyhtign wrong with that just saying for info purposes. He is most likely parasite loaded also I would recommend a vet visit for a fecal test. I personally have 3 russians all rescues and most likely all petco russians and they all were parasite loaded, Welcome to the group and I think you will enjoy your russian very much. Also age will be next to impossible to tell.

 

[MichelleCarrigan78]

I got one at Petco, and he looks a lot more beat up than yours. Yours looks really nice. They told me mine was less than a year old, hes full grown....I think they tell everyone that.

 

[Yvonne G]

They always say that because the Russian tortoise is relatively so small. He's probably close to full grown, but still young, not an old tortoise. He might grow a little bit more, but not much. And, yes, he is male. He doesn't look weird at all. In fact, he looks very good.

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Oh...and...

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome! Yes I agree wild caught male with a little growing still left to do (meaning he is very young, probably under 5 years old?). Agreed for a vet check up with fecal test for parasites. Want to share an enclosure picture? What are you feeding? I'd keep track of the weight and straight carapace length on a monthly basis. That is about right on track for the weight gain per month I see. Here's a chart for Russians if you want to check weight vs. SCL:

Good luck!