I thought it was a female

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Kirby88

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Here are some pics of what "it" looks like.
Kirby88 said:
I have a cherryhead that I think is around 3 and a half years old, just started to marble, and has a shell length of about 5.5" long. I always thought it was a female since it has almost no concaveness to the plastron and a very short stubby tail. The anal schute appears like it could go either way though. I've noticed its behavior to be a little strange the last few days as it appeared to be hiding and spying suspiciously. This morning after eating I caught it mounting my other cherryhead that I always thought was male since it did have a little concaveness to the plastron and a less stubby tail but was less sure because this one is a little smaller at 4.5" in length. While the larger one that I thought was a female attempted to climb on top of the other one it made "clucking" noises. Is this mating behavior gender specific and does this mean that She is actually a He?
 

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Kirby88

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Kirby88 said:
Here are some pics of what "it" looks like.
Kirby88 said:
I have a cherryhead that I think is around 3 and a half years old, just started to marble, and has a shell length of about 5.5" long. I always thought it was a female since it has almost no concaveness to the plastron and a very short stubby tail. The anal schute appears like it could go either way though. I've noticed its behavior to be a little strange the last few days as it appeared to be hiding and spying suspiciously. This morning after eating I caught it mounting my other cherryhead that I always thought was male since it did have a little concaveness to the plastron and a less stubby tail but was less sure because this one is a little smaller at 4.5" in length. While the larger one that I thought was a female attempted to climb on top of the other one it made "clucking" noises. Is this mating behavior gender specific and does this mean that She is actually a He?

Can anyone comment on this? I've read that sometimes females do have a little concavity but I always thought that males had very noticable concavity. Is it possible that that my cherryhead will just grow more concave and is currently just demonstrating early and premature sexual behavior? I was getting a little worried since it was following and bugging the other all morning.
 

Kristina

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Your tortoise is not old enough to show any real concavity. Redfoot males go concave pretty quick, over the course of a single breeding season, right before sexual maturity. The waist will tighten and the plastron will sink in. Yes, females can have marked concavity, especially older females.

At that size, what you are seeing is dominant behavior, not sexual behavior. However, I am of the opinion that you have a young male.
 

Kirby88

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Kristina said:
Your tortoise is not old enough to show any real concavity. Redfoot males go concave pretty quick, over the course of a single breeding season, right before sexual maturity. The waist will tighten and the plastron will sink in. Yes, females can have marked concavity, especially older females.

At that size, what you are seeing is dominant behavior, not sexual behavior. However, I am of the opinion that you have a young male.

hmmm, so what about the clucking noises and bobbing of the head and stuff, is that also common dominant behavior by females? from all the video clips of redfoots mating I've seen, that's exactly what I saw this morning. I did not see a penis though.
 

Kirby88

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Kristina said:
I have seen my females cluck, head bob, and mount my other females, yes.

Wow I didn't know that. That's pretty weird.
 

Kristina

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Yup, I was pretty weirded out the first time, lol. But other Redfoot keepers confirmed it is normal, and mostly to do with dominance.
 

Kirby88

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Kristina said:
Yup, I was pretty weirded out the first time, lol. But other Redfoot keepers confirmed it is normal, and mostly to do with dominance.

So is this something I have to worry about? Will I need to separate them?
 

Kristina

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Keep a close eye on them. If one seems to not be eating as much, sleeping more, or hiding a lot, then yes. Make sure there are plenty of hides and sight barriers in your enclosure, and you should be fine as long as you watch for stress signs.
 

dmmj

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The title of this thread, isn't that what eddie murphy said that night?

Females like said above will also show dominance over others, it is a pecking order often in tortoise colonies. Size of the enclosure also helps greatly in helping them get along, where do you keep them , and how big is their enclosure?
 

Kirby88

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dmmj said:
The title of this thread, isn't that what eddie murphy said that night?

Females like said above will also show dominance over others, it is a pecking order often in tortoise colonies. Size of the enclosure also helps greatly in helping them get along, where do you keep them , and how big is their enclosure?

The enclosure is an indoor one and is @ 6'x3'
 

dmmj

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Personally I think 6 by 3 is fine for one tort or 2 hatchlings, but I think for two, one who is almost 6 inches it may be to small for both of them. Just my opinion.
 
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