wanted: young male leopard tortoise

[preart]

I have a female leopard tortoise about a year old, and I'm looking to find a male to pair her with when they get to be of age. I would like a younger male (old enough to positively identify as male), but not so old as to be much bigger than her. I don't want a fully adult male to go with my tiny female. I also don't want to buy a hatching, be unable to identify the sex, and end up with another female. I don't want to have a tortoise farm, but rather just be able to have an occasional group of babies for the experience (although much further in the future). Sorry for rambling. I'm looking to spend $150 at most on the tortoise itself (I know shipping adds a significant amount more). PM me, or the most effective means of communication is to email me at [email protected]

 

[dmmj]

Good luck on your search, but to be honest at a year of age sexing a tortoise is near impossible.

 

[preart]

Good luck on your search, but to be honest at a year of age sexing a tortoise is near impossible.

After looking through the sexing posts again, I figured I should get advice on whether Reggie is, actually, a female as I suspect. Also, Mod you can feel free to delete this thread.

 

[JoesMum]

Are you planning on keeping them together?

Any new tortoise should be kept completely separately for the resident for at least 6 months as quarantine before introduction, so you will need a second enclosure.

This second enclosure may have to be a permanent home with them only introduced for mating as tortoises are solitary creatures and don't always take kindly to sharing the territory, food, etc.

If you don't have room for two full size enclosures please don't get another tortoise

I have just re-read your post. At 1 year old your female could well turn out to be male in few years time. There is no accurate way of being sure until they are 5-10 years old unless you get a flash of tortoise penis (and you'll know if you see that it's unmistakeable!).