Have you ever wondered that why some animals are regarded as a symbol of speed? Why don’t all the animals fall in this category? Certainly, you must think about this, especially if you are an animal lover. Moreover, there are also those animals that have no direct relation to speedy moves. Yes, we are talking about turtles, which is one of the most versatile animals that people use as their pets.
Turtles are known to be simple, slow, and friendly creatures that may easily get frightened. Hence, they need enough care in captivity, and if you want them to survive for a longer time, you must be careful about their:
When you choose your pet turtle’s habitat, you must take care of its natural living. If you stay as close as possible, you will surely enjoy the longevity of life. Moreover, most of the turtles like to feed on herbs. Therefore, try to be very selective in this as well. Above all, the environment must be peaceful for these animals. Otherwise, you may witness animals’ distress as they are usually calm creatures and do not live fully in disturbed environment. So, as you have attained the basic details about Turtles, this is the time to start your research if you plan to get turtles as your pet. This blog will help you to find out various aspects of turtles’ life. So, let’s begin.
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Turtles As Pets
Choosing a pet is crucial for most people. This is because, in most of the cases, they are only quenching for something unique without getting complete details for it. Hence, they end up losing their pet very soon. Therefore, no matter how different your pet choice is, you must make sure that you know everything.
When we talk about turtles, we know that they have calm nature. Hence, if you have children in your homes who insist on buying a pet, turtles could be the ideal choice. Although they are pretty much sensitive and need a lot of care, they are easily manageable if you train children about turtles.
Ranging from their habitat to their habits, turtles are ideal for keeping as pets. People try to buy baby turtles and grow them by caring and making memories. For sure, this is cool. You might be thinking that why getting baby turtles is idealized. The answer to this is that it helps a lot to trace their age and lifespan, and life expectancy. For all these and many other reasons, turtles are among the best choice animals which can be kept as pets.
Turtles Lifespan In General
Certainly, it’s always a matter of great interest to know about their survival and lifespan when getting pets. This is something that directly influences the choice. Several factors influence the lifespan of animals. When we talk about turtles, like most animals, they have a variable lifespan in the wild and captivity. Also, the facts highlight amazing stories in this regard.
The greatest factor which influences the life of turtle is their specie. This means that you will witness differences in turtles’ ages according to the species you are focusing on. A normal-sized typical turtle survives for almost 10-80 years, whereas those with large sizes can survive for around a century. For sure, this is huge.
Moreover, if we talk about sea turtles, they can live up to 30 to 50 years and also, anecdotal details and records also reveal that they can live up to 150 years. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, The Galapagos land tortoise was the oldest known chelonian. It died in the zoo of Australia. During its life, it was the greatest star attraction for the visitors.
Scientists are pretty unsure about turtles’ general lifespan. This is more confusing with endemic species like the Galapagos tortoise, which have survived for years under isolation. That’s surely quite interesting. It is often difficult to gauge turtles’ age for one basic reason that their age could be around 400-500. That’s something whose examples are so limited.
How Long Do Turtles Live In The Wild?
Turtles are known to survive for several years. Especially when they live in the wild, they survive quite easily. This is mainly because of their simple life and hard protecting shell. Moreover, they survive on land and ideally can live in water as well. Hence, they can fight against any unfavorable conditions of their natural habitat.
According to the data, the longest living turtles have crossed around 500 years in the wild. For sure, this is something really impressive. Also, their life’s longevity is somewhat dependent on their species as well.
In short, the turtles’ wildlife is very long that could variate according to their species. For instance, you may find a turtle that lives for only 25 to 35 years and even those who have a lifespan of 100 years in the wild. Hence, one cannot claim for one figure in that case.
How Long Do Turtles Live In Captivity?
You might have heard that the captivity of animals influences the lifespan. Yeah! This is very true. Some animals survive better in the wild than in captivity and vice versa. This variation is mainly because of lifestyle and habitat. For instance, some animals don’t reach adulthood because of predators’ attacks, while when they are in captivity as pets, their lifespan directly gets increased.
If we look at the turtles, there is no much alteration between the wild and captivity lifespan. This is maybe because turtles eat and live simple. They don’t need much hunting for their food. Also, the protective shell helps them save in tough conditions. Hence, we can say that the lifespan in captivity is somewhat similar to their lifespan in the wild.
While having a deeper look at these facts, we found that your pet turtle can live for a longer time if it is provided with proper care, a good environment, favorable conditions, and above all, the right nutrition. Many turtles in captivity have survived for more than 100 years. Therefore, when you bring your pet turtle, you can easily figure out the longevity of their lives for at least 20-30 years.
Lifespans Of Popular Pet Turtles In Captivity
The story of discussing the lifespan of turtles is not over yet. There are so many facts that are remaining to be uncovered. Meanwhile, it must be kept in mind that turtles’ lifespan also varies because of species. Yes, their wildlife and captivity life are indeed influencing factor; still, the proof of the scientific evidence that it also depends on species you have got as your pet or have retained in captivity either in a zoo or your pet shop. No matter whatever the case is, you should be precise when buy a pet turtle picking the right species for yourself. Also, it is very important to do proper research before you fetch any animal randomly.
You may ask the seller about the age as well. In most cases, they are aware of the lifespan and age of particular specie. Here, we have mentioned various species with their lifespan. Check it out:
| Popular pet turtle species | Lifespan in captivity |
| Red-Eared Slider | 25 to 35 years |
| Map Turtle | 15 to 25 years |
| Wood Turtle | 40 to 55 years |
| Eastern Box Turtle | 50+ years |
| Painted Turtle | 25 to 30 years |
| Russian Tortoise | 40+ years |
| Greek Tortoise | 100 years or more |
| Leopard Tortoise | 100 years or more |
Factors That Affect Turtle’s Lifespan
The lifespan of pet animals is surely a great matter of interest for pet owners. After all, it’s about a matter of emotional attachment and financial investment. For sure, no one likes to end up getting a sick pet and then soon get depressed because of its demise. Therefore, if you plan to get a pet for yourself, try to be very particular in your choices. Mostly the sea turtles are influenced by various factors which decide their lives. Some of the factors which are affecting the lives of turtle are as follows:
1. Harvesting
It’s the law of nature that any animal breed undergoes massive suppression if they are harvested without any differentiation of time. For instance, today, you can easily find many money mongers in the coastal areas who don’t hesitate to do illegal harvesting, especially offseason. This, in turn, damages the lifecycle of turtles. Premature hatching causes the death of young turtles. This is surely inhuman.
2. Environmental Pollution
Mostly, the environment and habitat affect the lifespan of sea turtles. Scientists claim that environmental pollution, especially under the sea, is rapidly deteriorating marine life, whereas sea turtles are under the greatest influence. Even there are chances that if it is not controlled, maybe some of the sea turtle species will be lost with no way back.
Also, the egg hatching of turtles is one area that is getting the greatest environmental influence. Hence, the breeds are dying without replacement, and if careful measures are not taken, there will be no replacement.
The environmental condition both under the sea and on land deteriorates turtles’ lifespan. Therefore, the proper awareness programs must be organized by the governments to counsel the common public about the instinction of turtle species.
3. Improper Feed And Handling
Turtles are known as one of the calmest animals. They are least likely to attack. Also, they are one of the most mishandled animals. Many times, their owners take their shell to be something unworthy.
Every year, several cases are reported to the vet in which the turtles, either from a zoo or from their owners, are received with life-threatening ailments and lesions. Often, this is paralyzing for the turtle for days and even causes their early death. Also, improper feed is one factor that decreases the lifespan of a turtle. Like every other living being, they have a specific dietary need. To sustain their life’s longevity, make sure that you feed them properly.
How To Increase Your Turtle’s Lifespan In Captivity?
Captivity itself could be very stressful for an animal which can directly decrease the lifespan. Therefore, when you buy a pet turtle, be sure that you take proper care of it and spend the best time with them. End of the day, this is something to which you are emotionally attached with.
1. A Good Diet Is Key.
For sure, if you keep up with the proper diet along with vitamins and supplements for your turtle, you can easily enhance their lifespan. It would be the best if you keep in mind that the diet you are giving to one turtle specie might not be ideal for another one. Therefore, be very selective in your choices. For instance, you can only feed fish and meat to softshell turtles. Other species may eat insects, vegetables, and fish as well. There are also commercial-grade turtle pellets that contain all the necessary nutrition for your pet.
2. Save Them From Deficiency And Diseases.
The best way to increase the turtle’s lifespan is to offer them vitamins and minerals in adequate amounts. Most of the turtles are reported to vet with vitamin A and vitamin C deficiency. This ensures the good immunity of animals and can help save them from various diseases.
3. Ensure The Regular Visits To The Vet
If you keep up with the ideal diet but do not visit the vet, you may end up with an animal having an underlying disease state. Hence, it must be ensured that whatever you try to do for your pet, be sure that you don’t miss out on the vet visits.
4. Adequate Temperature Controls
Do not let your pet turtle ever suffer at any extreme temperature. Be sure that you have proper temperature control mechanisms for your pet turtle. This can help a lot in growing your pet healthier.
How To Tell The Age Of Your Turtles?
We all know that turtles are known as lifelong animals unlike other animals and that that’s why people like to have turtles more like a pet. Even though some tortoise species are known for living 100 years even, a normal species of turtle can live up to 40 years easily. The ultimate lifespan of a turtle depends on species, including some other influential factors. Many things contribute to these factors, such as health, diet, the lifestyle of living, and even environmental factors.
If you want to know how much lifespan your turtle will have, then all you need to know is your turtle species. We got to know about the oldest tortoise who has lived almost about 255 years, the claims say that, and the turtle was named Adwaita and was living in a zoo in India.
Other long-lived tortoises are also included who died at the age of 160 years, 175 years, 187 years, and 188 years. Even though these dates are just estimating, we don’t confirm these, but the record says that.
How To Tell If Your Turtles Are Healthy?
Many pet owners are eager to know that how they can find about their pet tortoise if it is doing well. Some of the easiest tricks can help you to know that your turtle is doing fine, all just by looking.
You can examine your turtle’s overall body condition, and you will know about it. Red-eared sliders are known to have a full body, and they shouldn’t feel like an empty shell. These turtles don’t have rolls on the skin or fat around their legs. These turtles are supposed to have smooth and intact skin within their shells.
If you look closely at the skin and shell, you will see that the skin is free of bites and bruises. On the other hand, there might be some scratches that can come after abscesses. Also, the skin will start to loosen up during the shedding period, but it will not look irritated.
Another thing is that these turtles are supposed to have hard and fully covered shells, not damaged ones. Those turtles are not healthy if you see any turtle with broken shells or with some serious injuries.
What To Do If Your Turtle Gets Sick?
The most common diseases start to occur due to the deficiency of Vitamin A, which be easily treated with oral or injectables. Even in some situations, there is the possibility of hypervitaminosis and overdosage.
Not only vitamin deficiency but other diseases might also occur to these turtles, such as respiratory infections, Abscesses, Shell fractures, even Parasites too.
The overall effect of these health diseases on a turtle is that there is a loss of appetite and lethargy. Whenever you start to see, these signs try to start early prognosis of your turtles and even the need for hospitalization, leading to fluid therapy and force-feeding.
General Care For Your Turtles
Turtles are not like usual pets to be kept, and these are very easy-going animals to keep. These turtles don’t require intensive care protocols like other animals but only basic care measures are needed. They also don’t require an everyday feeding schedule. Just a general rule of thumb, the turtles only need to be fed four to five days which is fine. However, if you have a young water turtle, they need to be fed quite often. If you want to know why so, it is because these are designed according to wild nature, and there are limited food sources in the wild.
Verdict
Turtles are one of the best options if you want to go for some unique pet animal. Moreover, while having a closer look, you can see that they live a simple life that is quite easily manageable if you are a new pet owner. So, what are you waiting for? Visit your nearest shop and buy your favorite pet species.
