Have a good way to age a turtle?

[davetclown]

this was an old topic from many years ago, at that time no discernible answer was given.

I would like to bring the topic back to life in hopes we have some one who has a few clues or examples of ageing turtles.

I recently landed a turtle, "common snapper" 30 lbs. Pictures coming soon.
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[davetclown]

A few days of research on my part and I have found there is no precise way to determine a turtles age.

up till they are about 13-15 years of age you can count the rings on one of the plates of the turtles shell +3. after that the shell tends to become smooth and makes it difficult to count rings. I am sure if you and a good scope you may be able to do something.

other than that,

[ul][li]a common snapper turtle shell about 10-11 inches long is about 15 years of age.[/li][li]a common snapper turtle shell about 13+ inches long is 25-100 years of age.[/li][/ul]
maybe I will find a better method one day.

click on photo to enlarge to see rings
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/18009/cat/838"][/url]
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[Paulpro]

I Like Turtles []
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[davetclown]

I do too, especialy the ones that swim in my stock pot or dance around in my fry pot.

yes I pick them up off the road and move them back to the water.

around here for some strange reason, turtles make a mad dash in front of on coming traffic and the cars can not stop in time [crazy]