How to Tell the Age of a Sulcata Tortoise

Most Sulcata tortoises can live as long as a human, but unlike humans, Sulcata tortoises don’t change their appearance that much as they age, and this can make it somewhat difficult to tell their age. But there are a few things at which you can look to get a good approximation of its age.

In order to tell the age of a Sulcata tortoise, you have to look at the rings on the shell, measure the length of the shell, and look at the color of the shell.

Doing those things will give you a few good estimates that you can combine and get the best approximation possible. After we go over the details of how to use those methods, I will also quickly cover the methods that scientist use to determine the age of a tortoise.

Counting the Rings on the Shell to Tell the Age of a Sulcata Tortoise

If you look closely at the shell of your tortoise, you will notice that there are a few rings that cover each section of the shell.

Tortoises don’t have a uniform growth, there are certain moments when they grow slower, and certain moments when they grow faster, and as a result those rings end up forming on their shell.

In order to approximate the age of your tortoise, you simply have to choose a section of the shell, it doesn’t matter which, count up all the rings on it and divide the result by two. And that is the age of your tortoise.

As for how accurate this method is, it depends on a few things. First of all it’s more accurate for wilt tortoises than for pet tortoises.

Wild tortoises hibernate during the winter, and this puts a complete stop on their growth, so the rings will be more pronounced.

Pet tortoises don’t always hibernate, especially if they stay indoors, so their growth rate won’t be as affected by this and the ring won’t be as prominent, up to the point where you can’t see it.

I’ve tried this method on one of my tortoises, which I had since it was a baby, so I know exactly how old it is, 12 years and 4 months. And the result of the counting method was that he was 11 years old. So the method is not 100% exact, but it was surprisingly close.

But in order to get the most exact result, you can’t rely on a single method, so let’s have a look at the other methods that you can use.

Measure the Length of the Shell

Like all animals, Sulcata tortoise have a maximum size that they can reach, and if your tortoise hasn’t yet reached its maximum size you can get a pretty good estimate of its age.

But before you take out the measuring tape, you should first find out if your Sulcata tortoise is male or female, since females tend to grow bigger than males. In this article, you can find all the info that you need to tell the gender of your tortoise: How to Tell if Your Tortoise Is Male or Female (With Pictures). After reading the article, you will immediately be able to tell if your tortoise is a boy or a girl.

When you measure your tortoise, make sure that you only measure the shell and not the whole body.

And here is a chart correlating the age and the size of a Sulcata tortoise.

How the Color of the Shell Will Tell You the Age of a Sulcata Tortoise

One other thing that you can look at to tell the age of your tortoise, even if not the most accurate, is the color and overall condition of its shell.

To put it simply, the more discolored the shell is, the older the tortoise is. And the more “used” the shell looks, the older the tortoise is.

While this is not the most accurate method, if you are looking at two Sulcata tortoises that are about the same size, you can instantly tell which one is the oldest.

Ask Your Vet for Help

While you can definitely do all the things that we discussed by yourself at home, if you have never done this before, you could go to the vet and ask for help.

A veterinarian that is specialized in exotic animals, which includes tortoises, will most likely have experience in doing this and will be able to give you a more accurate estimate. And might be able to see a few rings that you might have missed. Or by simply telling him the diet of your tortoise, a veterinarian should tell you if your tortoise is growing at a normal pace, if it’s growing faster than it should, or if it’s growing slower.

So if you think that your guess is very inaccurate, go with your tortoise to the vet.

What Methods Scientists Use to Tell the Age of a Sulcata Tortoise

The most common methods used by scientists to tell the age of a Sulcata Tortoise are the ones that I described above. As surprising as it might seem, there are no methods that will allow scientists to tell the age of a tortoise. So they mostly rely on the methods that I just described.

But, there are two more methods that scientist can use to tell the age of a tortoise, and the first one is called Mark-Recapture.

Mark-Recapture

When doing large scaled studies, scientists mark young tortoises, of which they have a good guess of how old they are, then they let them free.

They usually mark them by using a special paint, or making a small sign on their shell. And after a few years they will return to the exact same area and will look for the tortoises which have been marked. And this way they will know the exact age of the tortoise.

Studying the Skeleton

One other thing that scientists do to tell the age of a tortoise is to study its skeleton. But they can’t do this on a live tortoise, so this method is only useful if they want to find out the age of a tortoise that has been long gone.

When using this method, scientists look at the LAGs (lines of arrested annual growth) of skeletal tissues to determine the age and growth rate of a tortoise. The humerus, scapula, ilium, and femur are the bones that are usually studied.

This method has a very high degree of accuracy and is usually used to determine the age and growth rates of endangered tortoise species, sea turtles, and fossils.

Final Thoughts

At the moment, there is no exact method to tell the age of a tortoise, even scientist have to rely on guesses. The most accurate method that we currently have is studying the skeleton, which can be very expensive, and it can’t be used to find out the age of living tortoises.

While doing research for this article, I found out that there are quite a few studies that are going on that want to see if you can tell the exact age of a tortoise using a blood sample. From the information that I’ve gathered, the results should be in 2026, as the study needs to be conducted over a long period of time, to see if the results are consistent.

So until then we all have to use the methods that currently exist. But if everything changes, I will update the article Immediately. Until then, if you have any questions, make sure to leave them in the comment section below, my colleagues and I check the comments regularly and answer all the questions that we can find.

Common Questions

Do Sulcata tortoises recognize their owners? Sulcata tortoise can recognize their owners. Overall, tortoises are not the most social animals, and they usually prefer to be alone rather than in the company of humans or other tortoises. But they can and will learn which person is their owner, and over time they will trust their owner and might even show affection.

Can Sulcata tortoises learn their name? Sulcata tortoises are intelligent animals, and have a good memory. So over time they will learn what their name is, but this can take some time. And even if they learn their name it doesn’t mean that they will always respond when you call them, there are times when they can simply choose to ignore you even if you call their name.

Do Sulcata tortoises get lonely? Sulcata tortoises are solitary animals, and prefer to be alone, so, they never get lonely. Some tortoises can get used to having people and even other animals around them, but they don’t really enjoy it, they mostly tolerate it.

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