Turtles are widely recognized to live longer lives than many other pets, with some species living over 100 years! Pet water turtles typically reach 40 years, although much depends on factors such as species, diet and environment that you can influence.
Bottom line, most turtles will live several decades if they make it past the initial few years of life.
Determining Your Turtle’s Lifespan
In order to ascertain your turtle’s potential lifespan, first identify its species. Red-eared sliders with proper care have an expected lifespan of 30-40 years while tortoises have been known to live into their 80s – giving rise to a real chance that your tortoise or turtle may outlive you! So make sure your will is ready and drawn up now (No one likes surprises.).
Large turtles and tortoises have long lifespans; smaller species that are commonly kept as pets typically outlive them by several decades. Tortoises that live for nearly 200 years (or even longer!) have been recorded, though verifying claims about them can be difficult due to them outliving their owners. Adwaita, an Aldabra giant tortoise from India’s Zoo was probably the longest-living tortoise on record and claimed to have reached age 255 according to reports; these dates however, cannot be independently confirmed.
Other famously long-lived tortoises include Timothy, who lived to age 160; Harriet (a Galapagos giant tortoise from Galapagos Islands), Jonathan (Seychelles giant tortoise from Seychelles Islands) and Tu’i Malila (radiated tortoise) who all died at different ages – though most estimates cannot be confirmed with certainty.
Feed Your Turtle Right
Proper diet for your turtle can play a vital role in its long and healthy life. Diet can vary significantly depending on its species – some like softshell turtles prefer eating mostly fish and meat while other such as red-eared sliders prefer eating insects, fish, and vegetables.
Be sure to do research into the ideal diet for your new pet turtle. While many turtles do well with a combination of commercial turtle pellets and fresh foods, exact proportions and types may vary greatly from animal to animal. By adhering to an ideal diet for your new turtle, you may avoid issues like vitamin A deficiency (one of the primary health concerns for pet turtles), calcium deficiency due to vitamin D deficiency, soft shelledness or poor growth as a result of indoor housing without UV light exposure (also affecting turtles & tortoises).2 By feeding appropriately you may help avoid Vitamin A deficiency as one of its primary health issues for pet turtles!
Diet isn’t the only factor to keep a turtle healthy. Be sure they receive adequate care through regular vet visits, a clean enclosure with enough space, and proper temperature. Dirty living conditions and stressors such as dirty cages may shorten its life substantially; having proper temperature levels ensures happy and healthy turtles.