Desert tortoises can live to be quite old–up to 80 years in the wild! If you find a desert tortoise and want to know its age there are a few things you can look for.
One way to tell the age of a desert tortoise is by looking at the growth rings on its shell. Just like trees desert tortoises add a new growth ring to their shells each year. By counting the number of growth rings you can get a pretty good idea of how old the tortoise is.
Another way to tell the age of a desert tortoise is by looking at its teeth. Tortoises’ teeth wear down as they get older so a tortoise with very worn-down teeth is probably quite old.
If you’re still not sure how old a desert tortoise is you can always take it to a veterinarian or a wildlife rehabilitator to have it checked out. They’ll be able to give you a more accurate estimate of the tortoise’s age.
So there you have it–a few ways to tell the age of a desert tortoise. Remember if you find a desert tortoise it’s best to leave it where you found it. These creatures are protected by law and it’s illegal to remove them from the wild.
How can you tell the age of a desert tortoise?
Answer: One way to estimate the age of a desert tortoise is by examining the growth rings on the scutes which are the large horny plates that make up the tortoise’s shell.
Just as a tree’s age can be determined by counting its rings a tortoise’s age can be approximated by counting the number of annuli or growth rings on its scutes.
How accurate is this method of telling the age of a desert tortoise?
Answer: This method is not 100% accurate as the number of annuli can vary depending on the tortoise’s growth rate and rate of scute shedding.
What are some other ways of telling the age of a desert tortoise?
Answer: Another way to estimate the age of a desert tortoise is by looking at the size of the tortoise.
As desert tortoises grow slowly and live a long time (up to 80 years in the wild) larger tortoises are generally older than smaller tortoises.
How can you tell if a desert tortoise is male or female?
Answer: One way to tell the difference between a male and female desert tortoise is by looking at the shape of their tails.
Male desert tortoises have long thick tails with large bumps near the base while female desert tortoises have shorter thinner tails without these bumps.
What is the average lifespan of a desert tortoise?
Answer: The average lifespan of a desert tortoise is 50-80 years.
How fast do desert tortoises grow?
Answer: Desert tortoises grow slowly only gaining about 1” in shell length each year.
How big do desert tortoises get?
Answer: Male desert tortoises can grow up to 15” long while female desert tortoises only grow up to 12” long.
What do desert tortoises eat?
Answer: Desert tortoises are herbivores and their diet consists mostly of grasses annual plants and cacti.
Where do desert tortoises live?
Answer: Desert tortoises live in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Are desert tortoises endangered?
Answer: Yes desert tortoises are federally listed as “threatened” in the United States.
Why are desert tortoises endangered?
Answer: The main threat to desert tortoises is habitat loss from urbanization and other forms of development.
Additionally desert tortoises are often killed by cars on roads and they may also fall prey to predators such as coyotes foxes and ravens.
What can be done to help protect desert tortoises?
Answer: Some ways to help protect desert tortoises include preserving their habitat building Tortoise-friendly fencing along roads and educating others about how to avoid harming these animals.
Are there any special rules for handling desert tortoises?
Answer: Yes it is against the law to collect or harm desert tortoises in any way in the United States.
If you see a desert tortoise you should not handle it or disturb its environment.
Can you have a desert tortoise as a pet?
Answer: No it is illegal to keep desert tortoises as pets in the United States.
Why is it illegal to keep desert tortoises as pets?
Answer: It is illegal to keep desert tortoises as pets because they are a protected species.
Additionally desert tortoises do not do well in captivity and they can easily spread disease to other tortoises.
