Tip 1: How to determine the age and sex of a turtle
Tip 1: How to determine the age and sex of a turtle
There are legends that the tortoise is almost the most long-lived in captivity animal. In fact, this is not so. If you're wondering how old your turtle is, take a look at it better. Although for the uninitiated one turtle is like the other, like two drops of water, and sex, and age can identify even a layman.
You will need
- - turtle;
- -
Instructions
1
To determine the age Turtles, count the rings along the edge of the shell. The young animal, who has not turned two years old, every two months on the shell formed two or three rings. Then one ring appears every year.
2
With age, the growth of the turtle slows down. While the growth is intense, the areas of carapace between the scutes are bright, very bright. With age, the tortoise shell darkens. The armor of a mature turtle becomes elongated, in young turtles the shell is round. European land tortoise reaches puberty by 3-5 years, Central Asia later: males to 5-6 years, females to 10-14.
3
You can try to determine the age of the turtle bythe size of the shell. Thus, the landed Central Asian turtle has a shell size of 1 cm in 1 year, 6 cm in 2 years, 8 cm in 3 years, 9-10 cm in 4 years, 11-12 cm in 5 years, about 14 cm.
4
The size of the red-bellied turtles is different. Females in 1 year have a shell length of about 6 cm in 2 years - 9 cm, in 3 years - 14 cm, in 4 years - 16 cm, in 5 years - 18 cm, at 6 years about 20 cm Males, as a rule, 2-4 cm less.
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The maximum lifespan of red-eared water turtles in captivity is 35-50 years. At the same time, they can reach a size of 28-30 cm. Tortoises live up to 30 years.
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Determine the sex of the tortoise can only be at the age of 6-8 years. It is best to do this in comparison with other turtles.
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In males, the lower part of the shell, the plastron, is closer tothe tail is somewhat concave. This is necessary to make it easier for males to be on top during mating. The lower end of the plastron is rounded in females, and in males it has the form of the letter V.
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The males of the land tortoises have longer claws and femoral spurs. Cloaca in females is closer to the tail, besides females, as a rule, the hole in the plastron is wider than in males.
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Pay attention to the behavior of your turtle. Males are more active, even aggressive. They attack other turtles, try to climb from above or turn over. If your turtle often makes a characteristic rocking his head up and down, then you most likely have a male.
Tip 2: How long does a land tortoise live
Land turtles - quite popular withRussian owners of animals look like pets, which is still considered quite exotic. In our country there are only a few species of turtles, so only a few animal lovers know that around the world there are about 40 varieties with different longevity.
What kinds of turtles live on Earth
Such a division of all existing on ourthe planet of land tortoises occurs mainly in accordance with geographical origin: - American turtles (coal, argentine, forest and elephant), which have a shell length of 25 and 122 centimeters and inhabit the territory of South America and the Galapagos Islands - Asian (brown and dented) ) with a shell length of 30-60 centimeters. They live in the tropical forests of the countries of South and South-East Asia - land turtles (star, leopard, shpornosnaya, Burmese), which have a 25 to 70 centimeter armor span and live in the steppe zones of Africa and South Asia - Indian (yellow-yellow Indian , Indian and Celestial) with a shell length of up to 30 centimeters and a habitat - South and South-East Asia - Madagascar turtles (radiant and Madagascar beak-breasted) with armor length of 40-50 centimeters. Are endemics of Madagascar, - gigantic with a shell length of up to 120 centimeters, - gopher (desert western gopher, Texas gopher, Mexican gopher, gopher-polyphemy). The maximum length of their shell is 40 centimeters, and the habitat is the USA and Mexico, flat-footed turtles, elastic with a shell length of 15-18 centimeters in adults and spread in Kenya and Tanzania, and spiders (spiders and flat-tailed) are endemics of Madagascar . They have a maximum armature length of 15 centimeters, - South African star turtles (geometric, ocellated and conical), inhabiting southern Africa, - European land (bordered, Mediterranean, Balkan and Egyptian) with a maximum armature length of 35 centimeters; - crochets kiniksa, smooth) - Central Asian turtles.The last species of turtles has a very interesting characteristic feature. Central Asian turtles can sizzle like a snake-gurza.
Life expectancy of land tortoises
In addition to its famous slowness, landturtles are distinguished and very long life expectancy. So representatives of some species can live for 50, 100, 120 or more years, depending on their belonging to one of them, as well as on the conditions and quality of life. But the leaders among all species are giant turtles, which are endemic to the island of Aldabra.In addition, they are very rare, some representatives of this species survived to 150 years.The most famous in the animal world is the turtleAdvaita, who died of old age on the night of 22 to 23 March 2006 at the age of 150-250 years. An important evidence of the longevity of this animal is the evidence of Jogesh Barman, Minister of Agriculture of West Bengal in India, obtained from authoritative sources. The official claimed and argued that the tortoise was still a lover of Lord Clive, the hero of the Seven Years War, who participated in the East India Trade Company. The Englishman died in 1774, and the animal lived with him for the last few years until the death of the lord.
Tip 3: How to determine the sex of a turtle
A boy or a girl? Such a question often arises in people who keep houses of land or water turtles.
Instructions
1
It is only possible to determine the sex of an animalthen, when your tortoise will be six or eight years old, and the length of the shell will be ten centimeters. At an earlier age, it is very difficult to determine the sex of these reptiles, especially not to a specialist.
2
In adult land tortoises, the sex can be determined by tail. The male is always larger and longer than the female.
3
You can also determine the sex of the turtle in the plastron- the ventral side of the shell. In males, it is more concave, and the femoral spurs are more pronounced. This shape of the plastron helps the male to hold onto the female body during mating. In females the plastron is flat, the cloaca is located closer to the tail than in males, it can also resemble an asterisk, in males it has the form of a longitudinal band.
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In red-tailed turtles, the claws of males are much longer than in females.
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Female Trionics can observe tubercles on the shell, while in males they age with age. The tail of males is also much longer than in females.
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The males of adult turtle turtles have brown eyes, and the females have yellow eyes.
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When determining the sex of the turtle will also helpobservation of the character. Males are more aggressive and active, they attack rivals, try to climb on females, bite their relatives for paws. Sexually mature males will constantly try to turn the other males upside down. You can also watch the movement of the head - if you notice that the turtle makes characteristic head movements up and down, then most likely you are a male.
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If you are at a loss to determine the sex of your turtle, contact your veterinarian or people who have been breeding turtle for a long time.
Tip 4: How to know the age of a land tortoise
Land Turtles on average they live in captivity for about 40 years. With proper care and absence of diseases, a tortoise can live at your home for 50 years or more. And how to determine age turtles, which recently became your pet?
Instructions
1
Give details of ageE Turtles and the subtleties of its content - the task of breeders. But they can not always determine precisely age. There are only a couple of ways to do this. One of them is to measure the length of the shell. Put a ruler to the shell and fix the distance of the farthest points from each other. Compare the results. Newborn terrestrial tortoises appear on light a little more than 3 cm. To a one-year-old agetheir carapace grows to 5 cm, to a two-year- up to 6 cm. In 3 years, the size increases to 8 cm, in 4 to 10 cm, 5 to 12 cm, in 6 to 14 cm. Depending on the quality of the feed, the level of daily calcium intake and the conditions of maintenance Turtles, their growth can reach large sizes, but rarely exceeds 18 cm. Land Turtles, living in the wild, reach almost 30-centimeter in size.
2
Carefully consider the number of rings on the shell. The first of them appear closer to the one-year-old agey. It was during this period that the land tortoise grows particularly intensively. During the first year of life, 2-3 rings appear on the shell. In each subsequent year, as a rule, another 1 or 2 are formed. In turtles-longevity they strongly dim and with agethey become smooth. It should be noted that this method of determining agebut "works" only together with the first, and it is not necessary to rely on its results.
3
Land Turtles become sexually mature by 5-6 years, in the wildnature - to 10 years. In females the process occurs later than males. By this period, the shell of both sexes acquires an elongated shape and darkens. The males grow long claws and tail, they become more aggressive towards each other and pay more attention to females. But under good conditions of maintenance, puberty can occur much earlier, so this method is far from accurate and is not taken into account without the first two.
Tip 5: How to identify a female turtles
Determine the exact floor Turtles is very difficult, and it is possible to do this only at an older age, when the turtle will be 6-8 years old, and the size of the shell will exceed 10 cm. And it would be simpler to define femaleIf you had a lot of turtles, it's harder to do it with just one animal. However, after studying some external signs, you can easily identify female Turtles.
Instructions
1
There are several types of turtles - land, marsh, red eel, Central Asian and trionics. Let us consider several examples on which we define female Turtles.
2
Land female Turtles can be determined by tail. In females, unlike males, the tail is slightly shorter. However, this can be seen in the sexually mature age. In adolescents, this difference is very difficult to notice.
3
In female terrestrial turtles femoral spurs are less pronounced, unlike males. The posterior abdominal side of the carapace of the female has a rounded shape; in males, it has a V-shape.
4
The size of adult female turtles exceeds the size of males.
5
Female marsh Turtles it is quite easy to distinguish from males by the color of the eyes. Females have a yellow eye color, in males the eyes have a brown color. Female marsh Turtles They do not have a notch on the plastron and the tail is noticeably shorter than that of the male.
6
The females of the trionics survive on the armorthere are tubercles. In males, on the contrary, the carapace begins to smooth out with age. The tail of the female remains short and small, and a three-year-old male has a long tail with a light, longitudinal strip on top.
7
Determine the gender of the Central Asian Turtles you can by the tail and the form of cloaca. In females, the tail is rather small and usually sticks out, and the cloaca has the shape of an asterisk. In males, the tail is long and thick, which usually because of its length is bent under the shell, and the cloaca has the form of a longitudinal band.
Tip 6: Age of the turtle: how to determine by the table
Determine how many years the beloved has hitturtle, you can in two ways: comparing the length of the shell with the standards, or by counting the number of rings on the shell. However, the one and the other options can not give a 100% result, since there is always some error.
You will need
- - Ruler;
- - the table of a parity of age and size of a shell.
Instructions
1
Option one. Measure the length of the tortoise shell and check with the table of correlations between the size of the shell and the age. Water red-bellied tortoise First year: 6 cm. Second year: male 8 or 9 cm, female 10 cm. Third year: male 10 cm, female 14-15 cm. : male 12-14 cm, female 16 cm. Fifth year: male 15-16 cm, female - 18 cm. Sixth year: male 17 cm, female 20 cm Long-tailed tortoise First year: 5 cm. Second year: male 6 cm, female 7 cm. Third year: male 8 cm, female 9 cm. Fourth year: male 10 cm, female 10 cm. Fifth year: male 12 cm, female 12-13 cm. Sixth year: male 14 cm, female 14 cm
2
Option two. Count the number of rings on a tortoise shell. Take into account that the first rings appear at an early age, and up to two years for each year of life there are several, two or three, grooves. After this age, one furrow grows per year. So the first four or six rings will be for a two-year period.
3
Estimate, whether the tortoise fell into hibernation, whether theshe slowly, whether her diet was poor. If the conditions in which it was contained can not be called good, add to the number of years obtained for another year - in bad conditions of life or during periodic winter hibernations, the turtles grow more slowly.
