Learning to determine the age of the turtle. How to determine the age of the land tortoise.

1. Turtle age determination
2. Determining the age of the turtle by the number of rings on the shell.
3. Determining the age of the turtle along the length of its shell.
4. Turtles in nature
5. Turtle structure
6. Determining the age of the turtle in two ways
7. Why is it difficult to know the sex and age of the turtle?
8. We determine independently the age of the turtle
9. Video: determining the sex and age of the tortoise
10. How to find out the age of a red-eared turtle?
11. How to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle?

Usually the character of a person influences the choice of his friends, including pets. If one likes restless, then the other silent fish in an aquarium, or a turtle. Choosing to be a friend of a red-eared turtle, you must be aware that your friendship can last more than a dozen years. And throughout this period her life will depend on you.

Before you buy this amphibian animal, it is not too much to inform yourself of the question of how to determine the age of turtles. After all, the pet's age affects its behavior, as well as its other requirements for food and conditions of detention.

Turtle age determination

From other relatives distinguish red spots instead of ears. There are several ways to determine the age of such turtles. Each of them is based on marks that the years have left on their body. However, one cannot say that any of them is accurate. After all, the appearance depends on such factors as the number of tenants in the aquarium, the temperature of the content and food. For this reason, deviations from the truth in the amount of several years are possible.

You can try to determine the age of the turtle by its shell (carapax). The technique of the method resembles determining the age of a tree by cutting the trunk. Each year leaves behind two or three rings on the shield. Before the celebration of his first birthday, the turtle already has one ring. After two years of life, it begins to slow down its growth and, accordingly, in the future, the little rings will grow only one by one.

Determine age red-eared turtles we will be helped by a method such as measuring the length of the shell.

The size of a newborn turtle is about 3 cm. In a year, its body increases to 6 cm. At the age of two years, the size of the female becomes 9 cm. And the male - 8 cm. In three years, the female grows to 14 cm, the male - up to 10 cm. Up to six years they add 2 cm in a year. And at this age the figures already become 20 cm females and 17 cm males.

The turning point begins when the length reaches 18 cm. Reptiles practically cease to grow, although there are exceptions. Under ideal living conditions, red-eared turtles reach 30 cm.

If you compare the appearance of a young turtle and an older individual, you can see a few differences. This method also helps to answer the question of how to find out the age of the red-eared turtle.

Over the years, the ring on the shell darken and in solid age they become almost black, and the shell itself is smooth and more elongated. In mature turtles, a spot near the eyes instead of red is maroon. Yes, and their behavior is calmer than that of the young. In the image of a turtle you get a smart sensitive and unpretentious creature.

There are several different ways , with which you can determine the approximate age of a domestic bug.

Determining the age of the turtle by the number of rings on the shell.

The first rings on the shell of turtles appear at an early age and in the first year of life, when the animal grows rapidly, the first grooves grow much more active (2-3 rings in six months). Beginning at about the age of two, rings are no longer so active (1 each year). Unfortunately, the rings on the reptile's carapace are not “the ultimate truth” since external factors, such as the conditions of the pet, can affect their number.

Determining the age of the turtle along the length of its shell.

To determine the age of the home turtle can also be using the ruler. As long as the growth continues, the shell result will be relatively reliable.

The length parameters of the shell of red-eared (yellow-bellied) turtles:

1 year - about 6 cm;

2 years - about 8-9 cm;

3 years - about 10-14 cm;

4 years - about 12-16 cm;

5 years - about 14-18 cm;

6 years old - about 17-20 cm.

At the same time, the life of a red-eared turtle in ideal conditions can be up to 50 years, while the growth of its shell ends much earlier at about 6-7 years and, as a rule, rarely exceeds the mark of 25 cm.

Parameters of the length of the shell of the Central Asian tortoise:

in the first year of life about 5 cm;

in the second - 6 cm;

in the third - 8 cm;

in the fourth - 10 cm;

in the fifth - 12 cm;

in the sixth - 14 cm.

Life expectancy of this type of turtles is about 20-30 years. And the growth of the shell in them practically stops at around 17-18 cm, which corresponds to about the seventh year of life.

The most relative way to determine the age of domestic turtles is to inspect the seams between the shells of the shell. In the first and most active year of the reptile's life, the areas of the carapax (dorsal part of the shell) between the shields are very light and bright. But over the years, when the tortoise reaches puberty, the shell begins to darken. In old age, the rings on the shell become almost black, and he stretches out and becomes particularly smooth.

If you do not know the exact date of birth of your pet, then determine its age can only be approximately. Moreover, the years of the young turtle are easier to calculate than the summer of a mature individual. Apply all of the above methods to determine the age of the turtle and if the results will differ slightly, calculate the average number, which will be the approximate age of your pet.

The owners are wondering how old their pet is, in those cases if it fell into their hands from random people. To know how to determine the age of land turtles, you need to know the structure of their shell.

Turtles in nature

First, we will get acquainted with the land tortoise, because before you start this reptile in the house, you should at least know a little about it. So, she is Central Asian, she is a steppe. Although it is called the steppe, but the native habitat of this species are the deserts of Central Asia.

Turtles eat plant food. In winter, hibernate. Sexual maturity occurs at about ten years of age. The female lays several eggs, but not all at once, but at intervals of two days. Newborn turtles have a length of only 30 mm. It is interesting that when they are born, they immediately burrow into the ground, where they overwinter and spring out into the wild.

Turtle structure

This reptile has four limbs, and the front ones are four-fingered. The shell is round and low, its color can be different shades of yellow-brown or yellow-green, with black or brown spots on each shield. This color allows you to perfectly mask among the sands and dry grass.

How are turtles land? One of the ways - on the shields of its shell. It consists of carapax (spinal) and plastron (abdominal). In newborns it is soft, it gradually hardens. Plastron is divided into 16 plates. Carapax has 13 central flaps, on the sides there are 25 more, smaller in size.

There are grooves on the shields of carapace, which resemble circles on the cut of a tree. Now you guessed how to determine the age of the tortoise? Yes, in the same way as the age of the tree - in rings.

Determining the age of the turtle in two ways

So, the first way to determine the age of a land tortoise is by concentric rings. They appear on the shields of small turtles already in the first year of life. And in the first two years, their growth is very intense, one furrow on the shell appears after 3-6 months, and then - 1 or 2 rings per year. It is difficult to know how old the old representatives of this species are, since the shell becomes smooth and the grooves are almost invisible.

To make the answer more accurate, you can count the rings on 3-5 shields, and then calculate the average value. This method does not give an absolute result, because domestic turtles lead a completely different way of life than in the natural environment.

Conditions of detention have a great influence on their development, as well as whether they sleep in the winter. Domestic turtles reach sexual maturity much earlier than their relatives living in natural conditions and live longer (up to 20, and under favorable conditions up to 30 years).

There is another way to determine the age of the land tortoise. To do this, measure the length of the shell with a ruler. It is known that up to ten years grow fairly quickly. When reaching a length of about 18-20 cm, their growth slows down and almost does not change. Although in nature there are specimens with dimensions of about 30 cm.

Newborn turtles have a length of 3 cm, for the year their growth is almost doubled (5 cm), and each subsequent year of life adds about 2 cm. Females are much larger than males. Let's make some simple calculations and find out how to determine the age of the land tortoise: if, for example, the length of an animal's shell is 14 cm, then it is about 6 years old.

Of course, these methods of determining age are very approximate, but using both, you can at least tentatively find out how long your pet lives in the world.

Turtle - a great option for the first acquaintance of a child with a pet. The turtle needs minimal care, there are no problems with food, vaccinations and maintenance. However, despite the apparent simplicity, turtles have one very important problem - it is very difficult to determine the sex and age. These indicators are important not only for the official presentation of the turtle to family members, but also in order to hope for the birth of small turtles, correctly calculate the period of intensive development and the period of hibernation. How do you know the sex and age of the turtle on your own?

Why is it difficult to know the sex and age of the turtle?

The turtle is a species of reptile that can live for more than 120 years. This is quite a long time, since one domestic turtle, with proper care, can calmly experience not only its own owners, but also their children and even grandchildren. A turtle can be kept in captivity under the simplest conditions, while there will be no problems with its breeding. It is also interesting that up to a certain age it is completely impossible to know the sex and exact age of a pet of this species. Sexual development begins only after reaching 6-8 years, and the distinctive signs appear even after this time period.

According to scientific studies, the turtle heads the list of animals that have not changed their appearance in the process of evolution. What they were in the past millennium and even at the beginning of the era, so they remained at the present time. Under natural conditions, this species of reptiles multiplied and lived on the basis of natural impulses - the problem of age and sex is only worried about the owners, this indicator is absolutely not important for the turtles themselves.

People who breed domestic turtles are very anxious to acquire a pet of exactly the sex that is needed. In order to be fully prepared before buying, you need to deal with current issues.

We determine independently the age of the turtle

Circle on the shell. In the people, the most famous method for determining the age of a tortoise is the number of relief circles on its shell. It's like a tree saw - the more circles, the greater the age. The only peculiarity is that a tortoise in one calendar year may have about 2-3 circles, so it is worth considering this factor when calculating the number of years lived. In young people, the particular relief of the shell is very clear, in adults, the elderly - it becomes almost flat, smooth. Pay attention to this factor when buying an animal.

If you want to more accurately determine the age using this method, count the number of grooves on several scales, determine the arithmetic average and divide by 2.5 (the average is indicative of the appearance of a circle for 1 year). The result will be as close as possible to the real age of your turtle.

The length of the shell. There is another method for determining age - measuring the length of the shell. However, this option is not always able to present 100% result. Of course, the tortoise shell grows throughout life, but this process is also influenced by the quality of the feed, housing conditions, other external signs . So, in 1 year the shell grows to 6 cm, in 2 - up to 8, in 3 - up to 10 and so on. The result is that every year the tortoise grows by 2 cm. This fact can be taken into account as an additional one, but using it as the main one is not rational.

Before embarking on a practical experiment to determine the sex of a turtle, it is worth noting one indispensable fact: to know which floor your turtle belongs to is possible only when you reach 6-8 years of age, with a shell size of 10-12 cm. This is important! Since at an earlier age you will not see any external features of the constitution, but internal organs completely inaccessible to the eyes, because they are hidden under a firm covering of the shell.

Here are a few methods for determining the sex of a turtle. All of them are based on any one of the signs. However, for the most effective diagnosis of gender, it is worthwhile to use not only one method, but to apply them together, in conjunction with other methods. Tip! It will be easier to figure out this parameter if you begin to compare several things with each other.

1. In males claws are longer and thicker than in females (this is due to the fact that during mating the boy-turtle should cling to the shell of the girl).
2. In males, the plastron (abdominal part of the shell) is concave, in the females - flat - necessary for retention on the shell.
3. The color of the eyes of females is brighter than that of males - it is necessary to attract a partner.
4. Males-turtles have a long and narrow shell shape, and females - short and round.
5. The view of the cloaca - in males resembles a longitudinal line, in females - the image of an asterisk.
6. You can also determine the sex of a turtle by behavioral signs - the males are more active, constantly come into contact with females, flirt, bite the neck, nod their heads.
7. The female has a short tail, and its base is thin. In the male, everything is exactly the opposite - a broad base, thick and long tail.

If you have reviewed your pet in all the above methods, but have not determined the sex, with an accuracy of 100%, you can always use the help of a professional veterinarian who, through special laboratory tests, will provide the most reliable result.

It is worth emphasizing once again the fact that the independent determination of the sex and age of the tortoise is too complicated an exercise that requires special knowledge and the study of anatomy. If you decide to rely solely on your own strength, do not forget to seek further advice from a veterinarian - so you will avoid further trouble with breeding offspring.

Video: determining the sex and age of the tortoise

Usually the question of how to determine age and gender arises when you want to get a pair for an already existing individual and try to get offspring, because you need to pick up a bug not only capable of breeding, but also of the opposite sex.

How to find out the age of a red-eared turtle?

It can be much easier with an external examination than to resolve the issue of her gender. Sex determination usually occurs on the shell. There are two main ways to determine the age of a red-eared turtle by its shell. The first one is based on counting concentric rings formed as an animal grows (this is similar to determining the age of a tree by the trunk saw cut). Usually, 1–2 concentric rings correspond to one year of life of the tortoise. In addition, as the color of the shell grows, it becomes less bright, and red spots on the head also turn pale.

The second way to determine the age of the shell is associated with the analysis of its size. There are average growth rates of a tortoise and at 1 year the length of the shell is about 6 cm, at 2 years - 9 cm for the female and 8 cm for the male, at 3 years - 14 and 10 cm, respectively, at 4 years - 16 and 12 cm, 5 years old - 18 and 14 cm, at 6 years old - 20 and 17 cm (age 5–6 years old - optimal for the start of reproduction). On average, red-eared turtles live 30–35 years, and their maximum size reaches 30 cm.

How to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle?

There are three main ways to determine the sex for a sand-eared turtle: by shell, by tail and by claws. How to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle by its shell depends on the analysis of the shape of the back lower part. In the male, it has a concave appearance, since it is this form that makes mating easier, while the female has a more rounded and flat end of the carapace.

Determining the sex by tail is one of the most accurate. It is believed that in males the tail is thicker at the base, and to the tip it narrows sharply and ends with a pointed corner. The tail of the female is more uniform in thickness and has a flatter and rounded tip.

To judge the field of the red-eared turtle can also be based on the shape of the claws. The male usually has very long and pointed ends, as well as curled claws, while the female is content with shorter round nails. However, this last sign can lead inexperienced breeders, as in the conditions of life in an aquarium, the claws of both the male and the female can easily grind down the stones and recognize the sex of the animal is not so easy.