RES Age/Lifespan

[Jinx]

I was looking at ages of RES and how long they should live, how long they live on average and how long they live in the pet trade or as pets (normally; not scientific fact).

No one can agree.....some say 15-30yrs......others say 40yrs or 50yrs. Some say they will outlive you and not look a day older while doing it.

So I thought it might be interesting to see what everyone else knows or thinks.

I know of three old turtles......Timmy a 40+yr old, Napolean a 60+ yr old and my guy who is over 20yrs. Most every other RES i know of is between 4-12 yrs of age.

All three were kept differently and still are. And all three are healthy, except Timmy.

Now I read soem interesting articles, about animals that are cold blooded, who seem to stop or slow down entirely the aging process, while they are sexually mature. Basically, once your turtle reaches sexual maturity, he or she no longer ages, they grow, but the mind doesnt fade, muscles slacken or get weaker, no visible signs of being old. Technically allowing them to live forever, so long as they stay sexually mature and never retire from breeding.

Imagine that, living forever.

THe premise is that animals breed to procreate life and so long as the body is doing that, the mind, the genetics, the DNA, never say its time to get old and die.

Turtles in teh wild die from natural things, predation or problems caused by us, not cancer or brain degradation.

So with all that in mind.....how long is my turtle going to live, being given proper care. Dont know, but i do know the vet doesnt believe Ben is the same turtle I had when i was a kid......he looks to good to be that old!!

I think my guy will outlive me and look good doing it too!!

[csurfleet]

It all depends on the way they are kept. Hibernation is a big factor. If you hibernate your turtle he will most likely live longer (assuming he wakes up from the actual hibernation, I think we all know how I feel on that subject )

It is fully possible for a turtle to be kept in good health for 80+ years. However, at some point the immune system will begin to break down, and the turtle will succum to illness.

Its would be an interesting subject to research - why don't you look into it Jinx? I'm sure a reptile magazine/journal of some type would be happy to publish it for you assuming that it was studied in enough depth,

Go on, you know you want to! BTW if you need any help with specific facts and things lilke that, I'll be happy to help, or put you in touch with people who can when I'm stumped.

[Jinx]

it has indeed proved to be an interesting topic for me and numerous studies indicate that I am on the right track.

turtle DNA is also completely different from human DNA in that when our DNA replicates itself, it throws some of that DNA away, junk DNA, lets call it. when human DNA does this it leaves the door open for anomalties or mistakes.

Turtles, do not throw any of thier DNA away, it si replicated in whole.

I am repeating this infor from my head, it is more complicated than that and it involves different aspects, but all in all, turtles given proper care should live for quite along time. 20yrs being a teenage for a RES.

The hibernation factor is true as well, animals that hibernate or live in colder places (at least partially) live longer.

The oldest living thing on earth is a artic cold water clam at a couple of 100 years of age.

[Chez]

Wow this is the most serious post in the whole of the forum. Good job Jinx (or w/e you're calling yerself these days ) lol.

First of all, I don't imagine that anyone really knows how long a turtle is capable of living for in captivity. Have people been keeping them for more than 100 years, that which is the age that turtles are assumed by some to be capable of surpassing? Sure, it's totally possible that they have been kept this long. But under what conditions?
Would you agree with me that only recently (within the last decade) that hobbyists are truly becoming aware of how to completely take care of them, in all aspects of the turtles needs? Filters and heaters and UVB are relatively new inventions. They were not around even half a century ago, and thus the turtles conditions would not be conducive to its longevity.
Taking this into consideration, isn't it possible that no one would know for sure how long a turtle could live, in a hobbyists custody? By this I am insinuating that the hobbyist community as a whole would have had to have been caring for them collectively in this recently learned fashion(the way we take care of them)- for the course of a whole generation of turtles lives. Then, only after that, would one truly be able to say, rather than assume, that "X species of chelonia is capable of living for Y amount of years, in captivity."

ok.. let me catch my breath..

The oldest living thing on earth are redwood trees. Trees, like every other form of life, are in fact designed to live forever. And the trees are sort of like the turtles- they never stop growing, and they are forever sexually active, as they produce seeds on a yearly basis. Some even hibernate. But, a tree must still, like everything else, perish. Trees actually develop cancers (ever see a huge roundish mound growing on the trunk of a tree) or other problems, and that's simply nature's doing.
We are also designed to live forever. Maybe humans would live longer, it we lived a pure life like the animals and plants do, and were spawning new life yearly. Getting right down to it- it all has to do with society. It doesn't allow for you to go around mating like animals. We don't eat natures food, prepared by nature. It's societys food, right McDonalds? And, we're not free. You work (Uncle Sam would say contribute) to society, and if you don't, you're an outcast, a streetwalker. People we're meant for the opposite, I believe. And I think it kills us earlier than we were supposed to have been.

[glow=blue,2,300]:Chez[/glow]
Any takers?