COULD ANYONE HELP SEX MY TORTOISE.

[yillt]

I have been calling him/her Tilly for the past 2 and a half years so hopefully she will be a girl.Thanks

 

[yillt]

sorry I meant to add this one 2.

 

[yillt]

This is my almost 3 year old tort Tilly. T I hope these pics help. Thanks.

 

[yillt]

Does the first picture look like she has shell rot. I really want her to be healthy. So I normally fret over the tiniest things.

 

[Moozillion]

I don't know anything about marginated, but she sure is pretty! Hopefully some more experienced members will be along soon!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I'm no good with sex, but I do know that those rabbit pellets don't give the tortoise a good surface to walk on and they can cause a condition called 'splay leg'. It's a bad substrate all around. Use coir, or fine grade orchid back or cypress mulch. Nothing with pine or cedar as they are toxic to torts...

 

[Yvonne G]

In the Testudo species, the males have a slit-shaped cloaca and the females cloaca is star shaped. Your tortoise's cloaca is a slit.

 

[yillt]

Thanks

 

[biochemnerd808]

@Yvonne G - the tricky part about Marginateds is that both males and females have a 'slit' shaped cloaca. Marginateds can't reliably be sexed until they are 7-8 inches long, which may or may not be the case with a 3-year-old. It might still be too early to tell. Females have the stubby, fat tail, and the 'hinge' on their plastron is more pronounced. Males have a long pointed tail.

In the Testudo species, the males have a slit-shaped cloaca and the females cloaca is star shaped. Your tortoise's cloaca is a slit.

 

[biochemnerd808]

I don't see any shell rot, but I do agree with Maggie that coconut coir or topsoil would be a much better substrate.

Does the first picture look like she has shell rot. I really want her to be healthy. So I normally fret over the tiniest things.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you, Katie. I've made an amendment to my cheat sheet.

 

[biochemnerd808]

Well, @Yvonne G , tortoises just like to break the rules we make for them every now and then!

Thank you, Katie. I've made an amendment to my cheat sheet.