Age

[clare n]

Hello all, just a quickie, (I know that unless you know hatch date you can't really tell how old a tortoise is exactly but...) I took Phillip from my mother in law last year as he was "constantly hassling the females" at that point she thought he was around two, (im unsure where this figure came from, pet shop i reckon) I've had him a year on top of that. I have read they do not reach sexual maturity until much older than this. Is this correct? If so I'm gathering he is a lot older than 3 now, and is there any rough age indication regarding size at all? Thank you

 

[dmmj]

They would all be guesses really, remember a tortoise once it reaches max size, won't grow anymore no matter how old it gets, So a 20 year old russian can look the same as a 50 year old russian. I personally don't worry about age, I just enjoy the tortoise.

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Did she get them as hatchlings? Most pet stores have wildcaught russians and they are usually in the 4-5 inch range sometimes bigger. Can you post pics of your tortoise?

 

[clare n]

I'm not worried by it, I'm just curious that's all.
There are some pics on my other threads, or will try and put one on later as my battery is very low. It doesn't matter, it's not urgent was just wondering if there was any indication. She got him from a pet shop he was only slightly smaller than he is now. It's more behaviour than size that made me wonder

 

[dmmj]

All russians sold in pet stores are WC adults well maybe 99.99%, their ages can range from 5 or 6 years to 20 plus years.