TELL TELL SIGNS OF A CHERRY HEAD

[N2TORTS]

A quick pictorial :
One of the tell - tell signs of identifying a Brazilian Cherry Head~
One of the common marks that is used to identify a Cherry Head Redfoot is to look for the marbled plastron . Even at a young age 1-2 years you will see the markings starting to develop. As the tortoise matures you will have a full blown marbled plastron. Although there are always exceptions to the
“golden rule” as I have one large male who has an almost complete “black” plastron with no marbling what so ever.
Here are some Cherry Heads

Young Cherry Head developing …..


Now here we can see the difference in plastron markings with their Northern Redfoot Cousins.



Now the very unusual male I was speaking of …..a long term and great breeder Cherry Head who has an almost black plastron.



JD~

 

[terryo]

What about that Rudolph nose? Do all Cherry Head's have it?

 

[N2TORTS]

That is another identifying marking , but that too will vary in shades from red, to pink to orange and yellow. Plus there have been some exceptional very bright headed RF's around lately


Variance in Cherry Head - Head colors

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[terryo]

Thanks Jeff. By the way, that picture is Solo, from Carl (cdmay), and the picture is totally untouched. He has very vivid red coloring.

 

[N2TORTS]

Nice looking tort .. too Miss Terry ! .... funny you mention
"un-touched"...I did not know people "touchup " their pictures..

 

[TommyZ]

Hmph...Jeff youve got me wondering now, the guy i got my little one from said it was brazilian, but mine doesnt have a dark plastron..can you take a peek here for me plz and confirm what i have?? Heres a couple pics..

 

[abclements]

Tommy, I'm definitely not Jeff and he can probably explain better but you definitely have a cherry. The growth after hatching comes in black/marbled... you can see right along the growth lines the developing black but since he's so small and young it hasn't filled in yet.

You can also notice that on all of Jeff's torts, they all have yellow spots on the very outside of the plastron which in a while, will be the yellow that you see on yours. Hope this helps! Like I said, Jeff will be around to explain it better lol

Here's a shot of my 3.5 fingers plastron. As you can see the blacks coming in nicely plus the marbelings gone a little nuts as well

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Oh and the 3.5 fingers is supposed to say incher... not fingers lol gotta love the autocorrect...

Sent from my LG-P769 using TortForum mobile app

 

[Hesh1212]

Would I be able to tell on my tort that's just 2 months old??

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I would check now but he's sleeping haha

 

[abclements]

Yes you should be able to see the black coming in, even at 3 months... but post a pic here tomorrow if you're still unsure and we can help you out

Sent from my LG-P769 using TortForum mobile app

 

[Hesh1212]

Ok we'll I went to go take a pic to show you guys, but now I see I red looking bubble out of his butt. What is it!!!???

 

[TommyZ]

Re: RE: TELL TELL SIGNS OF A CHERRY HEAD

Tommy, I'm definitely not Jeff and he can probably explain better but you definitely have a cherry. The growth after hatching comes in black/marbled... you can see right along the growth lines the developing black but since he's so small and young it hasn't filled in yet.

You can also notice that on all of Jeff's torts, they all have yellow spots on the very outside of the plastron which in a while, will be the yellow that you see on yours. Hope this helps! Like I said, Jeff will be around to explain it better lol

Here's a shot of my 3.5 fingers plastron. As you can see the blacks coming in nicely plus the marbelings gone a little nuts as well

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Oh and the 3.5 fingers is supposed to say incher... not fingers lol gotta love the autocorrect...

Sent from my LG-P769 using TortForum mobile app

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Thank you, glad to see my lil one is not having an identity crisis, lol...

 

[Hesh1212]

Please help, pretty worried

 

[Hesh1212]

I figure it out but I'm still worried but if you can still check out the pick an the bottom shell design and see off I truly have a cherry head?

 

[abclements]

The red bubble is a prolapse but I think you already figured that part out. I can't tell for sure from the bottom, but I'm leaning towards northern, just because the dark area doesn't show on the horizontal growth lines... but it could just be too early

 

[N2TORTS]

Here is a baby N. Redfoot plastron shot ….


Now a Baby Brazilian Cherry Head ……


One of the other “ markers” is the enlarged leg spur on the inside of the leg….much more pronounced on CherryHeads..



Now compare to a Northern Redfoot…..


And yet another “ marker” …. Typical Redfoots of most regions aside from the Brazilians , the males will tend to have that “ peanut shape” as mature adults……
Here is a Hypo Adult Redfoot Male ( Who’s name actually is peanut )

Now a large Male Cherry Head …….“Oscar” notice this “ shape” does not hold so true when viewing adult male Cherry Heads.


JD~

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Hmph...Jeff youve got me wondering now, the guy i got my little one from said it was brazilian, but mine doesnt have a dark plastron..can you take a peek here for me plz and confirm what i have?? Heres a couple pics..

ya got a Cherry Z man ....