Sulcata shell rings as a method of determining age?

[Ndrw82]

I understand there is a way to make an educated guess as to the tortoise's age. Half the number of rings in each section?

I would be very interested in hearing from the community here, I have attached a couple photos of the guy...


Thanks in Advance!

 

[iAmCentrochelys sulcata]

There’s no such thing as determining it by the scutes.

 

[Markw84]

I understand there is a way to make an educated guess as to the tortoise's age. Half the number of rings in each section?

I would be very interested in hearing from the community here, I have attached a couple photos of the guy...


Thanks in Advance!

I do not agree with @iAmCentrochelys sulcata . You can often make pretty good estimates of age by looking at growth patterns on the shell. It is certainly not exact, but most tortoises go through periods of seasonal variations in growth rates. Weather and types of food available and fed different times of the year do cause growth rings to form. In many species this is quite visible. Sulcatas are the best example of growth rings to mark the various growth changes. The name "sulcata" itself comes from the Latin word for "furrow". They were named for the obvious furrows that develop in their shells. Growing sulcatas also will normally have the new growth come in relatively darker. It lightens to the tan color over about 3 years. In a growing sulcata you can usually see the changes in color in the most recent 3 years with each band getting subsequently lighter. Yours is a good example of that and is very visible.

Wear on the central part of the scutes soon obscure early growth rings and that starts making defining growth rings impossible. Yours also has that happening as the central portion of the scutes are raised with yours and now worn down.

Your tortoise looks to be in the 8-10 year old range. Again - not exact, but an educated assessment.