Help identifying tortoise species and gender!!

TheSulcata

Active Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2016
Messages
209
It kind of looks like minor pyramiding is going on. What do you guys think?
 

cmacusa3

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2014
Messages
3,191
Location (City and/or State)
Bixby
I am newbie, but why no one doubt this cute little one is a hybrid?
He/she doesn't looks 100% sulcata to me.
To me, he/she is a bit redfoot, a bit gopher, a bit sulcata. Hmmm...

I agree with Fredkas, this is some kind of mix. It doesn't look like a full Sulcata to me.
 

Agent007

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2015
Messages
54
Thats a sulcata, I still remember when he was that small. (Its been 3 years now and ziggy has grown alot. But still much growth needed) When ziggy was small, His leg spurs seemed nothing like a sulcata. I literally thought he was a hybrid. but once ziggy had started getting bigger, his leg spurs developed. I gurantee you its sulcata.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I would agree with Baoh's assessment. He doesn't post much, but his head contains much, much tortoise knowledge. And since I'm a moderator and am privy to where the OP is, I agree it's a Chaco tortoise.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I've never raised a chaco, so I really can't say for sure that is what we have here, but that would be my guess. And since Yvonne knows where the OP is and she says chaco, well, that cements my guess. All the pics of small chaos that I've ever seen look very similar to young sulcatas, but the leg scales give it away.

I've raised lots of sulcatas and I have never seen one with plastron color like that, and those leg scales are not sulcata. I'd love to see a pic of the back of this tortoises thigh.
 

Juliaboris

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2016
Messages
9
Hi everyone,
Thank you all so much for your help. I agree that it was pretty irresponsible to receive a tortoise as a gift given the size he/she can grow. The good thing is that we live out in the country side in Montevideo, Uruguay and have lots of acres of land on our property so I'm pretty certain we won't have an issue with space. I'm eager to learn all I can to raise our tortoise in the correct and healthy environment. All of your advice has been super helpful in our research for proper care.

Do any of you know what the restrictions are on bringing a tortoise of this size back into the U.S. ?
 

juli11

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2013
Messages
1,467
Location (City and/or State)
Europe
I'm sure it's a sulcata like Kelly said...
I had C. chilensis and this animal don't look like this species.
And i don't think too that it is a mix... because which species should be mixed? Maybe with paradalis but I saw hybrids of them and they look different.
Maybe it could be a different local form of sulcata. A friend of mine has some sulcatas which are smaller than others...
 

russian/sulcata/tortoise

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
8,458
Location (City and/or State)
Northern California, bay area
I'm sure it's a sulcata like Kelly said...
I had C. chilensis and this animal don't look like this species.
And i don't think too that it is a mix... because which species should be mixed? Maybe with paradalis but I saw hybrids of them and they look different.
Maybe it could be a different local form of sulcata. A friend of mine has some sulcatas which are smaller than others...
The owner of the tortoise lives where Chaco tortoises are present. I still don't think it's a sulcata.
 

William Lee Kohler

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2015
Messages
879
Location (City and/or State)
Eugene, OR
I don't think this is a sulcata. I think it might be a baby Chaco tortoise. View attachment 195820

This was my thought as well. However as I remember the ones I had had many very large prominent scales covering the fore arms and this little one is not that way. Do Sulcatas have a nuchal or not? None of the SA tortoise group have one.
 

Fredkas

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2016
Messages
936
This was my thought as well. However as I remember the ones I had had many very large prominent scales covering the fore arms and this little one is not that way. Do Sulcatas have a nuchal or not? None of the SA tortoise group have one.
Sulcatas don't have nuchal scute. Gophers tortoise have it. That is how i usually know which one is which one between sulcatas and gophers.
This one.. very much a chaco.
 

Juliaboris

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2016
Messages
9
Hello all... it's been quite some time since I've been on here. I wanted to post an update on my girl Boris. She is still living in Uruguay with plenty of space to roam and be free but I am missing her dearly and have been wanting to bring her back to the US with me. I wanted to be sure of her species before starting the process of bringing her back. Here are some recent pictures of her. She hasn't grown much which makes me think she might not be a sulcata. She does hibernate during the winter. I am thinking she is a Chaco but would love some more input! Thank you all in advance!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9705.jpg
    IMG_9705.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 2
  • IMG_9709.jpg
    IMG_9709.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 3
  • IMG_9706.jpg
    IMG_9706.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 2
  • IMG_9707.jpg
    IMG_9707.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 2
  • IMG_9708.jpg
    IMG_9708.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 2
  • IMG_9710.jpg
    IMG_9710.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 2

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,119
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
She doesn't appear to be in good condition.
 
Top