How do i know my turtle's age?

[farhatislam2000]

well,i bought my turtle n it wasn't a baby actually. becuz,after reading some issues on selling n buying roofed Indian turtle in india n bangladesh is really crime.bt i wasn't aware of it.n i came to know that in most of pet shps of my country dnt sell baby roofed turtls.
ok,this is out of topic.
bt i really wanna knw hw i can knw my turtle's age?

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Please post pictures of your turtle asap.

 

[dmmj]

you have no way of knowing specially for a wildcard specimen whether legal or illegal. They grow depending on access to food and conditions.

 

[farhatislam2000]

you have no way of knowing specially for a wildcard specimen whether legal or illegal. They grow depending on access to food and conditions.

whatever um saying,um saying after knowing it completely.
my turtle is nw on the verge of distinction.so govt banned its selling n buying.bt some dishonest ppl steal their eggs n fertilize them n sell them in general pet stpres.n some owners buy them without knowing it completely.
whatever um saying,um saying about the poor initiatives of our country to save these wild animals

 

[farhatislam2000]

i dnt wanna tlk abt the other issue.
i just wanna knw hw to know the age of a turtle?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

It's really hard to read what you write. Can you try to use more conventional English grammar and spelling?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

You can't know the age of your turtle. From size, all you can infer is maturity. Not age in years.

 

[farhatislam2000]

which thing , u haven't understand?

 

[farhatislam2000]

curious mind wnts to knw, if someone does not know wht his turtle's age is.
Then, why someone says,my turtle is abt 15 yrs, he is abt 7 months etc....

 

[dmmj]

because some people know the hatch date therefore you can know the age. Without that there's no real way of telling.

 

[Tom]

The only way to know the age of a turtle or tortoise is to know the hatch date. If it was wild caught as an adult, you can only guess the age.

We would love to see a picture. Indian roofed turtles are gorgeous.

 

[Markw84]

Let me give you the only way you could GUESS your turtles age
For an Indian tent turtle fully grown males are 4-5" long
A female fully grown is 6-8" long
From your previous post it look like your turtle is between 4 and 5 inches. So if it's a male it could be anywhere from 4 to 30 years old. If it was raised in captivity with good diet maybe 3 to 30 years old
If it is a female it could be from 4 to 8 years old and if raised in captivity with good diet it could be as young as 3 years old

The reason you can't tell age especially with aquatics is they shed their outer layer of their shell keeping the shell nice and smooth and " new " looking. So you can only guess by comparing size to normal growth rates. But once they get close to the upper size limits there is no way of telling a 9 year old from a 30 year old

Hope that helps

 

[Vishnu123]

Correction - They live between 11 to 15 years in captivity

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Correction - They live between 11 to 15 years in captivity

What species are you making this claim about?

 

[JoesMum]

What species are you making this claim about?

I suspect that in India, where animal care is not as widely understood as it is in some other countries, that the average lifespan of any species of tortoise or turtle in captivity is not as long as you would expect.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Tortoises and turtles grow at varying rates due to a lot of different reasons, diet, temperature, genetics, housing, competition for food and so on.
You can't tell the age.