I was just wondering who has the oldest tort on the forum pls send pic and age thanks
Who has the oldest tortoise on the forum
- Thread starter Merrick
- Start date
Most of us with old tortoises have no documentation. I have a full grown desert tortoise that was full grown when I got her 40 years ago.
Tortoises can live for a very long time, and it's almost impossible to guesstimate age. The tortoises can can have the potential to live to be oldest are probably already well up there. (and it would be hard to guess age
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I would love to meet an old tortoise. Like, old, old
) I would love to meet an old tortoise. Like, old, old
Certainly not me, but I bet @ALDABRAMAN would be in the running. I think some of his are known to be 100+.
I agree with Tom, I'm sure it's Gregs (Aldabramans) Aldabras.
Yeah gotta be Greg. I know there's some very old radiata out there. I spoke with a gentleman yesterday who inherited some desert tortoises in 1954 and his parents had them for 20 years. Old guys. I have a Chaco that is very very old. But that's all purely speculative and exact age cannot be confirmed. But he has been documented to be at least 35 years in te country.
Definitely not me. My oldest is only estimated at at least 15.
I hope Aldabraman (greg) replies so he can tell us his oldest tort one Aldabra at Zoo Miami was estinated to be 101 years old
Sorry, total necropost. Curious though, does anyone know the natural life expectancy of a Chaco? I cant find a number anywhere.
Tortoisesarecool
Active Member
Not mine for sure he is only 6 or 7
Just thinking with so many members on this forum who has the oldest tortoise? We always see and read about the hatchlings but what about the older ones? They should get a christmas mention and publicity....
So if you have an age 40 plus tort please tell us about it and share pics...
So if you have an age 40 plus tort please tell us about it and share pics...
My guess would be either Aldabraman or my sister's Mishell...
There are some here that are 100+ years old.
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People or tortoises, Tom? I am getting close, but I'm not quite 100 yet. LOL.
Seriously, though, one of the adult Radiated Tortoises which I imported in 1968 is still going strong and producing babies for his present owner. Assuming he was 25 or so in 1968, the tortoise is probably about 75 to 80 years old.
There is also a male Ploughshare Tortoise male which a friend of mine caught in Madagascar in 1971as a young adult and which I got from him in 1977 that is still living. I sent him to the Behler Center in CA back in 2010 for breeding purposes, and he is still there. This would make him about that same age, roughly 75-80 years old.
Interestingly, both of those tortoises are almost the same age that I am now (I will be 75 in February if the Covid virus leaves me alone till then).
My oldest radiated tortoise, which I got from Bill is about 31.
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Yes, that is him. He is a beauty and one of my favorite tortoises.
I had an even larger one than that also, but I loaned him out to a zoo and he got an intestinal impaction (from being fed on sand) and died from the resulting infection. He weighed about 45 lbs. Here are a couple pix of the male who died. The second photos show him breeding with a huge female I owned which also died while out on a breeding loan. She froze to death when the heat failed at the facility where she was being kept on the coldest day in that area for 100 years. She had 30 eggs in her (multiple clutches) at the time of her death, but none were calcified enough to be incubated, unfortunately.
I was never able to get another adult female after the one pictured below was lost in 1985. So close to success, but yet so far.......
Heartbreaking losses Mr. Z. So sad.
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- Location (City and/or State)
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This female was an adult in the 1970's when she arrived at the Honolulu Zoo. She was the one that AI was used with, sorta worked. She ended up with egg yolk peritonitis, and had a surgery removing her 'female' parts. The keeper I spoke with that had been part of her care for the last 30+/- years said she has subsequently grown more gular, and taken on some male characteristics.
Image taken 24 Dec 2020. She's at least 70 years old if not older? Not a tortoise record, but a remarkable individual considering her history. It is also somewhat impactful for me to see a tortoise that was important to Sean. I see why he loved the Honolulu Zoo so much. The keeper staff is extraordinary. They actively engage with the public. I like the SD zoo plenty, but keepers there sorta got anti-public blinders on, maybe for good reason (?), but it's a pleasure to see keepers engaging with the public so readily.
I had to wear some tortoise shirt at the zoo, The Kinixys Cooperative was the choice today. If you're into hingebacks it's a great resource.
