Tortoise Maturity stages

[Anyfoot]

Hi everyone.

Can anyone tell me when a neonate tort is classed as a juvenile, and when a juvenile becomes an adult, and when an adult is fully mature. Does this alter from species to species. Mine are redfoots. For the 1st time I saw one of my young male adults get his erect penis out. Does this mean he's a mature adult capable of reproduction. His carapace is about 8" in length.

thanks

Craig

 

[Turtlepete]

Pretty sure this is a mostly a matter of opinion….I personally consider tortoises less then say 2 weeks of age "neonates". After that, to me they are hatchlings. By a year they are yearlings. By 2 years or so I suppose juvenile could be a fitting name. Then they could be called sub-adults. Then when they lay eggs and become sexually mature, you could call them adults. This is going to largely vary by species as well, since some species reach maturity much faster then others, grow at massively varying rates, etc.. Some people call red's subadults at 6", which to me is unfitting, being that they are still a good 3-4 years from breeding maturity. But again, it's a lot of opinion, I think.

Your male is nearing sexual maturity and probably capable of reproduction. One I raised from a hatchling began breeding at 8". Females need to be larger. The only female I've raised from a hatchling did not begin reproducing til 10 1/2"-11". This was mainly due to the male's lack of interest in her though.

 

[Anyfoot]

So my three 8 month old torts are classed as hatchlings. This makes sense because I once referred to them as juveniles in another thread.
I was told my 2x4ft viv wasn't big enough. I assume it is for hatchlings and probably ok for yearlings too.

 

[Turtlepete]

So my three 8 month old torts are classed as hatchlings. This makes sense because I once referred to them as juveniles in another thread.
I was told my 2x4ft viv wasn't big enough. I assume it is for hatchlings and probably ok for yearlings too.

I wouldn't call them hatchlings. There is that funky period where I have no clue what to call them. Hatchlings to me are less then say 4-5 months old? Also depends on the growth rate. I've had red's at 4 1/4" by 9 months, and some hardly at 2 3/4" by the same time. Doesn't really make sense to call a 4"+ tortoise a hatchling, but it's also not yet a year old to call it a "yearling". Maybe thats when people call them juveniles. I have not a clue, haha .

Your 3 torts have probably outgrown that viv. Depends on their size though. Unless they are very small for their age though, you should consider upgrading to a 4x4 or bigger. If they haven't outgrown it yet, they will quite soon.

 

[Anyfoot]

They are 3 to 3 1/4" carapace length

 

[Tom]

Here is my method of age classification:
hatchling = still has an egg tooth
baby = up to one year
yearling = from the end of year one to the end of year two
juvenile = over two, but not yet breeding size
subadult = large enough to breed, but not a full sized adult (for example a 14" male sulcata)
adult = a full size mature tortoise