The age-old question of how can I tell the age of my yellow foot tortoise? Unless you were there when the tortoise was born, it is highly unlikely to know the exact age. We can get pretty close with the following methods, though. For example, counting the rings on a turtle’s belly is a method often used to determine age, but the reality is that the rings will most likely tell us when the turtle or tortoise had access to enough food to grow. If you have a young yellow foot tortoise telling its age is easier, you can directly compare the size to other tortoises of the same species. You can also find some information in our yellow-footed tortoise guide.
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Counting Rings Method
So let’s dive into the most common method to tell the age of a yellow foot tortoise. To begin, pick a “scute” on the tortoise so we can begin counting the rings. To be clear, scutes are scales that cover the yellow foot tortoise’s shell.
Counting the rings in a scute will give us an estimate of the tortoise’s age. This is because “rings” on the scute develop according to whether the tortoise had plenty to eat. They underdevelop when food can be scarce. So we can get a pretty close age with rings, but they don’t determine the number of winters and summers that tortoise has lived.
Looking at the rings is not an exact science, but if we take a closer look, we can see that the scute will have wide and narrow rings, many times with different color shades. Wide rings typically mean a period where the tortoise had access to plenty of food. In the wild, this would most likely represent the warm season.
Narrow rings on a scute determine a time of scarcity in the tortoise’s life. It tends to be a manifestation that shows the colder or winter period. Some people make the mistake of counting the turtle’s scutes to try to determine the age. This, of course, is incorrect. Remember to count the rings within the scutes to et an approximate number.
Estimating Tortoise Age
Once we’ve counted the rings, we can try to guess the yellow foot tortoises’ age. Let’s say the tortoise has ten rings within the scute; this would signify that the tortoise is five years old. Every two rings should represent approximately one year (one for the summer and one for the winter).
A turtle or tortoise will have rings to help you determine age regardless of whether it is a wild specimen or in captivity. Once a specimen is older than sixteen years old, using the ring counting method is more complicated. Since the rings keep getting closer as the tortoise ages, the rings are too close together to be able to count.
Measuring The Tortoise To Determine Age
Measuring your turtle or tortoise can help you determine how old it is. This is particularly true for younger tortoises. First, we need measuring tape. You can begin by measuring from the tip of the tortoise down to the very tail, and this will give you a reasonably good idea of how big the yellow-footed tortoise is.
If your yellow foot tortoise is not cooperating, don’t worry. This tortoise species can be very stubborn and love to put up a fight. The solution is to have their favorite treat to keep them still while measuring its length. I usually use fruit like papaya, or if it’s time for its weekly protein snack, I’ll use ground beef.
So once we have the approximate length of the tortoise, we can look for a growth chart for your particular turtle species. It is essential to be specific; even yellow-footed tortoises can vary according to their subspecies. For example, I’ve had a lowland yellow-footed tortoise that was considerably bigger than other yellow-footed tortoises from a different place.
Find A Species-Specific Size Chart
The best place to find the appropriate chart is to do a google search or maybe head to the library to find a specific book about your turtle’s species.
It is also. Important to note that a tortoise born in captivity will likely grow up faster than wild tortoises due to the steady stream of food and a controlled environment. This particular factor can skew results a bit by making us believe the turtle is older due to it growing faster.
Once we measure and find an appropriate size chart, all that is left to do is compare your measurements to estimate and approximate the age of your yellow-footed tortoise. If the tortoise is young enough and has not reached its peak size, we should be able to determine a roundabout age.
Conclusion
If we want to estimate the age of our yellow-footed tortoise or any tortoise, we have two methods for it. The first is to find the scutes and count the number of rings in each one; for every two rings we count one year of age.
The second method is by measuring your tortoise from tip to tail. We then find a species-specific size comparison chart and estimate the age of the turtle.
