CB or WC comparison?

[chase thorn]

so i was wondering if you could tell if a Tort is Wild Caught or Captive Bred? particularly in russians. is there any signs or evidence that you can identify on its shell? does anybody have a side by side comparison?
just curious

Thanks:]

 

[Baoh]

It's pretty obvious when you look at them (Russians), although I no longer have photographs on hand to assist with examples of my own. They are generally more worn, smooth, and somewhat more dull looking as WCs as opposed to CBs.

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, its usually quite easy to tell CB from WC. Not just in Russians, but with most any kind of turtle or tortoise.

In the case of my CB Florida box turtles, even the shell shape is different.

 

[Yvonne G]

Here's the picture I was looking for:

The wild caught male Florida box turtle is on the left. Its not as easy to notice in the picture, but the shape of the shell is different, with the WC being longer and skinnier and the CB being more triangular shaped. Also, the CB is younger than the WC, yet he is bigger. Both males.

 

[chase thorn]

Here's the picture I was looking for:

The wild caught male Florida box turtle is on the left. Its not as easy to notice in the picture, but the shape of the shell is different, with the WC being longer and skinnier and the CB being more triangular shaped. Also, the CB is younger than the WC, yet he is bigger. Both males.

thank you! that clears up a lot of curiosity! and ive have seen some CB russians that have almost the same indentations than a WC does.

 

[Yvonne G]

Almost always, I'd say 99.9% of wild caught Russian tortoises look like they've been through the mill. They have chips and scrapes on their shells and many have old shell rot on the plastrons. They just plain look rough. A captive bred Russian has a pretty, shiny and healthy-looking shell. Usually with clean and bright growth lines. As far as shape of the shell goes, they pretty much all look alike. Its mainly the cosmetic look.

One of our members (Chikat) has one of the prettiest captive bred Russians I've ever seen (Nelson). Here's just one little glimpse of him:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Big-Bad-Nelson#axzz1X6ikcV3Y

 

[Baoh]

thank you! that clears up a lot of curiosity! and ive have seen some CB russians that have almost the same indentations than a WC does.

I have seen a lot of WC Russians for sale as CB when the truth is obviously the opposite of the claim, so keep that in mind.