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Tortoises
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Tortoises live on land. The biggest tortoises live on an island called Aldabra and live on islands in the Indian Ocean. Tortoises can grow to be pretty big, their shell is at least 3 feet long, sometimes bigger! The common weight is 330 pounds. Most adult tortoises are at least 6 inches long, and some even grow to be 24 inches. The young tortoises can grow quickly in good conditions. They grow until a certain point in life and then slow down. |
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| A tortoise hides in its shell when its scared. A
shell is a tortoise's home. They move slowly because of that heavy shell.
Think about carrying your house on your back. A tortoise's shell is bone,
made from its backbone with bone plates fused together like a box or
house.
Inside the tortoise's shell, of course, is its body. They have scales all over their body. Tortoises have no teeth, so they just grind food with their sharp beak. They just eat things like snails and plants, basically anything slow enough for them to catch. Tortoises can go for months without food. |
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| Tortoises live to an old age. Longer then most animals. They can live from 100 years to 200 years. The record for the oldest turtoise is 152 though, by an Indian Ocean Giant Tortoise. | |
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