Gender guess please.

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kelberry

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P1050833.JPGThis Greet Tortoise is one of several that was recently donated to our nature centre. We are reseaching everything needed to give them proper housing and diet. We need to do indoor housing as the climate is already too cold for them to go outside (or at least I would think so). We are investigating contstructing a tortoise garden enclosure outdoors in the spring but I need to find out the acceptable temperature range for tortoises kept outdoors.

I am also wondering if it is alright to have the Greek and Hermann's tortoise together or if their needs are so different that they should each be alone. I understand that there are mating behaviors and also bullying that could be stressful.

Right now the Greek seems a little less energetic than the others and is getting extra attention and TCL.

Do you feed your tortoises every day?

Can you guess the gender of these?

I was told probably 3-5 years in age.

Thank you in advance for any helpful feedback.

Is there a tortoise group in Canada that anyone knows about?
 
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kimber_lee_314

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#4 is definitely a male. I'm thinking the other one is a female (but possibly a young male.) The bigger one looks a lot older than 3 - 5 years - not sure about the littler one although I would say probably older than that. I don't feed my tortoises every day - usually every other day. Hope that was somewhat helpful. Could you post some pics of their carapaces?
 

GBtortoises

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More of a concern rather than their captive needs (which are similar) is the fact that both are males and may show aggression toward each other. The male Eastern Hermann's on the left will surely always win. While Ibera males can be aggressive, male Eastern Hermann's are much more aggressive and relentless.

People have different opinions on feeding schedules and amounts. I feed adults while indoors every other day. In part because they are much less active indoors, kept in a much smaller enclosure than when outdoors. if they are extremely active they may need to be fed daily.

Both are males.

The Eastern Hermann's on the left is probably well over 8 years old. The Ibera is most definitely at least 5 years old, probably older.
 

kelberry

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Thank you so much for helping to determine that the Greek (Zeus) and Hermman's (Hermie) are both males. I have not recently witnessed any mating or agression behaviors but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. I am assuming that I should consider seperate housing. I will post a picture of their current winter (indoor) enclosure. I have 4 tortoises and a box turtle here and I want to do the best I can for all of them. It might mean finding good homes for some, but I will start with trying to help them here as I think we can provide a good long-term home. They also provide a great platform for education and talking about the pressures facing wild turtles and tortoises.

Also, do you feed your Hermman's some bugs/worms?


I am not sure if I posted pics of the carapace.
This is Hermie and Zeus.

I need to make up birthdays for them. I thought the previous owner had them since birth, but I guess not. Would it be fair to go back 9-10 years for the Hermann's and 6 years for the Greek?P1050832.JPG
 

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GBtortoises

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kelberry said:
Thank you so much for helping to determine that the Greek (Zeus) and Hermman's (Hermie) are both males. I have not recently witnessed any mating or agression behaviors but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. I am assuming that I should consider seperate housing. I will post a picture of their current winter (indoor) enclosure. I have 4 tortoises and a box turtle here and I want to do the best I can for all of them. It might mean finding good homes for some, but I will start with trying to help them here as I think we can provide a good long-term home. They also provide a great platform for education and talking about the pressures facing wild turtles and tortoises.

Also, do you feed your Hermman's some bugs/worms?


I am not sure if I posted pics of the carapace.
This is Hermie and Zeus.

I need to make up birthdays for them. I thought the previous owner had them since birth, but I guess not. Would it be fair to go back 9-10 years for the Hermann's and 6 years for the Greek?



No there is no reason to feed Testudo species any animal protein. While they do require some protein in their diet they can get most all they need from plant proteins if a good quality, varied diet is fed to them. Too much proteins, as in that which fed in addition to their regular diet can cause digestive problems among other things.

Even though there is no real accurate way of knowing their age for certain at this point, your estimates of age for both would not be unreasonable.
 
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