Age of my baby tortoise??

[amanda23]

Hi, im new to this site and also new to owning a sulcata.. ive had my tortoise for about 4 months now.. i was just wondering if theres a way i can tell how old he/she is. The reason im unsure is because of the place i got it. The owner of the petshop was also a little unsure of the age when he purchased them. They were for sale in the shop for almost a year.. and now ive added 4 months to that.. so i know he/she is around a year in age.. but i would appreciate any information if any, on how to determine an exact if not close age. i find that not knowing makes it really hard to search specific thing about her care and diet.. since that varies as they get older. i also just want to make sure that shes growing at a normal speed.. and healthy for her age.

thank you!

 

[amanda23]

age ??

I bought a tortoise from a pet shop, but the people working had no idea how old the tortoise was when i got her, they said she had been in the store for a little over half a year.. i know now from reading some of these post that i probably should not have bought her from that shop because they were not informed enough themselves to inform me but i did anyways and now ive had her for about 4 months she seems perfectly healthy and the info on this site helped alot but im still limited to some information because it may be age specific... im just wondering if there are any ways to determine the exact age or somewhere close to it, to make sure that i am using the right care and health tips for her age range. She is about the size of my palm at this point and i didnt really notice any growth until recently. She weighs about 95 grams.

She also had a small dent on her shell.. im just wondering if thats something bad? she always had it.. its not soft or anything it just looks like a natural imperfection.. am i right or should i be worried?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Amanda and welcome to the Forum.

There's no way to tell the age of a tortoise without knowing the hatch date. I'd say your tortoise is appx. a year and a half, just by what you've told us and how he looks.

 

[amanda23]

Hi Amanda and welcome to the Forum.

There's no way to tell the age of a tortoise without knowing the hatch date. I'd say your tortoise is appx. a year and a half, just by what you've told us and how he looks.

okay thats the age i was thinking thank you! an as for the dent in her shell? i have 2 different posts cause i didnt know your first 5 posts had to be approved.. but i talked about a small dent in her shell ever hear of anything like that.. its on the bottom and the top in the exact same spot...

 

[Yvonne G]

I can't see the dent in the picture.

 

[sunshine_hugs]

I don't have a sulcata, so certainly can't help with the age, but one of my redfoot hatchlings has a dent in his shell. It's never been soft, just seems like a natural imperfection...I have 2 of his clutch mates, and a friend of mine has 3 of his clutch mates, and they all seem to be perfect. AND my little guy with the dent in the shell, has actually grown to be the biggest of them so far.

You Sully is beautiful! Does she have a name?

 

[amanda23]

Yes exactly what her dent is like it doesn't seem like something that's bad for her just like she was born like that! And her name is Gail lol

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I can't seem to get a picture where you can really notice it.. You notice it more when you feel her shell I know that's no help to you at all tho sorry lol

Sent from my Nexus 4 using TortForum mobile app

 

[oknursedana]

Pretty pic with the clover.

 

[mainey34]

You have a pretty sulcata. Can you measure your sulcata and tell us what the measurement is? Do you know how to do that? You measure the length of the bottom of the shell. Then the width of the bottom of the shell...

 

[Tom]

How about a weight? Looks awfully small compared to that clover flower. How was it being housed in the petstore? I have some that are abut 15 months old. They are 7-8" and 1000-1400 grams. They might be on the high side due to how they were raised.

 

[ckromulus]

My sully just turned 3 (about) and it is 1339 g and about 7.5 inches long. Tom would know better but it seems that the general consensus on the site is that it is really dependent on a myriad of factors ranging from diet to habitat and just the tortoise itself.

 

[Lilyloveslettuse]

I have a Sulcata that is 2 years old and she is way bigger than that! I think it is a year and a half. Maybe.
lll-

 

[amanda23]

She was housed on sand in the pet store.. She didn't look right so I took her in and searched the right ways to keep her.. If you could message me so I could ask you some questions about her now thats Ive had her for awhile... I'd really appreciate some help.