The yellow-headed side-necked turtle needs to reach more than 40 cm before it can be considered an adult, because its size is relatively large compared with other turtles. Their growth rate is relatively fast, and it only takes 5-6 years to grow to 40 cm. Breeders can judge whether they are mature first by the time they grow and secondly by their size. If you want to judge accurately, you can combine the two. Although the growth rate of yellow-headed side-necked turtles is fast, their development speed is different in different feeding environments. If breeders want them to develop faster, they must prepare enough food and suitable environment for them.

The life span of the yellow-headed side-necked turtle is relatively long, generally between 30 and 60 years. But how long they can live depends on their living environment. Yellow-headed side-necked turtles living in the wild have a long life span, and most of them can live for about 60 years. Because life in the wild is more in line with their requirements, their life span will be longer. The life span of artificial culture is mostly about 30 years, because although artificial culture has plenty of food, it can't completely simulate the native environment, and the space is not particularly sufficient, so their life span will be shorter.