General Care Discussion :: how do you tell there age

[spunkyguy]

hey all, not sure if i am in the right place for my question i am new to this site. how do you tell how old a redear slider a buddy got 3 but dont no there age.

[BullDog]

It's impossible to tell their age. If they've got a a egg tooth, they're a week old or less. If they're the size of about a 50 cent piece, they're probably about 2 months or younger, and if they're 3.5-4", they might be between 1 and 2 years old. RES grow about 1/2" per year for the first few years after 1 year old, so you can perhaps guesstimate. But these are just guidelines. Size depends on many things, including genetics, habitat, nutrition...

[TheComputerGremlin]

What are their sizes (measured long ways down the shell, without the curve, measure shell only, no flesh head or neck)? What are their histories? Did you get them from a friend, pet store, the river, a street fair? About how big were they when you got them?

Unfortunately if they are full grown (7-9" for males, 10-12" for females) it's nearly impossible to tell. If they have any indication that they are still growing, you can guess that they are less than 10 or so years old. You could probably back-date that a little if you took a measurement now with the date and checked every year from now on. As soon as you find they aren't growing anymore, you can subtract the years you've been measuring and estimate a little better.

Some breeders actually keep the babies in a cold environment to stunt their growth so they can sell them at 1-2", which can make it hard to get age even more.

[jameshermanto]

scientist believe, turtle like trees, look for the age from the circle of ring (circle of life). but then its imposibble to see, only some of them can have the circle of live and we can see it. (i found this on turtle and tortoise for dummies).

[theartbook35]

What are their sizes (measured long ways down the shell, without the curve, measure shell only, no flesh head or neck)? What are their histories? Did you get them from a friend, pet store, the river, a street fair? About how big were they when you got them?

Unfortunately if they are full grown (7-9" for males, 10-12" for females) it's nearly impossible to tell. If they have any indication that they are still growing, you can guess that they are less than 10 or so years old. You could probably back-date that a little if you took a measurement now with the date and checked every year from now on. As soon as you find they aren't growing anymore, you can subtract the years you've been measuring and estimate a little better.

Some breeders actually keep the babies in a cold environment to stunt their growth so they can sell them at 1-2", which can make it hard to get age even more.

Yeah, like my turtles, for example. They are well over a year old, and they are only two inches. I think you and I have actually talked about this before...