How to tell how old he is?

[Mrturtle527]

I just bought a Russian from Petco and they guesstimated he was under a year, however I brought him to the vet today and she thinks he is a couple years old. Is there a way to tell based on size?

 

[Tom]

No way to tell. If it was 4"+ and from Petco it is most likely at least 4 or 5 years old, and probably older.

 

[abclements]

I agree with Tom. It definitely isn't under a year old though. If it's wild caught (typically what's sold at petco) it could be upwards of 7 years old because the grow much slower in the wild than in captivity. Probably more in the 3-5 year range though

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[Yvonne G]

The pet store people just don't seem to realize that Russian tortoises are a small species. In order to be big enough to get past the 4" rule, a Russian tortoise is probably more like about 10 years old. Still a very young tortoise, but not a baby.

 

[Mrturtle527]

On wow that is a big difference! How do I know where it came from?

 

[JoesMum]

If the shell looks pristine, your tort is probably captive bred. If it's worn smooth and got the usual knocks and scratches, then it's probaly wild caught. As I understand it, Petco very rarely sell captive bred torts.

 

[Vickie]

On wow that is a big difference! How do I know where it came from?

I don't think there really is a way to know for certain. Especially if the sales rep. doesn't have much history on it.

 

[Mrturtle527]

Here is a pic of him. He looks pretty smooth and no nicks. I might go back and ask a bit more about him.

Btw this is his first soak since I've had him. He seems happy in the water. How long do you let them hang out in it??

 

[WillTort2]

I use about 20 minutes in luke warm water. His shell looks a little dry; you may wish to soak daily for the first 10 days then 1 to 3 times a week after that.

 

[JoesMum]

Here is a pic of him. He looks pretty smooth and no nicks. I might go back and ask a bit more about him.

Btw this is his first soak since I've had him. He seems happy in the water. How long do you let them hang out in it??

Wild caught. Almost certainly.

Twenty minutes for soaking is fine... the water has usually cooled off by that time.

 

[Mrturtle527]

So I went back to the pet store and asked them where he came from. The guy there was very helpful They let me know he was captive bread (I think that is good) but had no idea on the age. He provided me with the information on where they buy them from and I have reached out. Anyone heard of The Gourmet Rodent? This is where they get all their reptiles for the Petco I bought from.

 

[LolaMyLove]

Personally I would not trust anything a Petco sales associate tells you. They only repeat what they have been told to say weather its true or not. I was told (admittedly) that my Russian was a captive bread 6 month old female hatchling.... He is approximately 6-8 yrs old adult and wild caught.

 

[theelectraco]

I have never heard of any petco or petsmart tortoises being captive bred. I know for a fact all of PetSmarts are wild caught, no matter what the species, and are around 5+ years old. Sometimes RF come in smaller and perhaps younger but with WC you never know.


0.1.0 Dachshund
0.0.1 Redfoot
1.0.0 Greek

 

[Raymo2477]

The sales person is misinformed. All of Gourmet Rodent's Russians all wild caught. The only captive bred torts that the chains carry are Redfoots-but most of them are farm raised and imported from Venezuela or other South American countries.

If they sold captive, US bred ones they would be $299 or more not the $139 that they currently sell for.

As for age 5-7 is a good estimate as previously stated they do not grow as fast in the wild. Also a one year old captive bred Russian would be 2-3" in length at the most.

 

[Mrturtle527]

Thanks for the feedback, I have an email into the company they buy from. I am happy with my purchase just would like the history.