is sexing possible?

[captain]

Hi everyone, just wondering if it would be possible to find out the sex of my 4 month old red foot or is he too young? If not, what age could I be able to find out???


thanks

 

[kathyth]

Hi,
He is too young. From what I have been told 6 inches in length is about the smallest for accurate sexing.

 

[Tom]

They can do surgical sexing on any age tortoise. Its would cost more than your tortoise did, and they have to cut them open and stick a endoscope probe into the body cavity, but you will know the sex when its done.

Other than that, you will have to wait about three years in most cases.

 

[AnnV]

I am surprised there is no DNA sexing available. Seems there are enough tort and turtle keepers to make it a profitable business pursuit.
They've been doing it with parrots for years. Of course with birds it's easy. Pluck a feather and send it.
For my horse, I just had to pluck tail hairs, and for my dogs, a mouth swab. Those weren't for sexing purposes, of course. lol

 

[peasinapod]

AW: RE: is sexing possible?

I am surprised there is no DNA sexing available. Seems there are enough tort and turtle keepers to make it a profitable business pursuit.
They've been doing it with parrots for years. Of course with birds it's easy. Pluck a feather and send it.
For my horse, I just had to pluck tail hairs, and for my dogs, a mouth swab. Those weren't for sexing purposes, of course. lol

Problem is, you can't tell a tortoises sex by its DNA.

 

[N2TORTS]

Ann I have been working on that …….

The MICT® technology system is a desktop based, in vitro diagnostic device. The purpose of the MICT® system, when used with its disposable Test Devices, is to provide a means to quantitatively and qualitatively detect biochemical analytes directly from body fluids or environmental samples.



http://www.magnabiosciences.com/company.html

 

[parrotlady]

How close is DNA testing for tortoises? I have a friend in the Phoenix area interested also. I have heard that there is a zoo in Arizona working on it also. I have not been able to verify that yet. Only second hand information, therefore I am skeptical.

 

[kathyth]

Interesting J.D.!!!

 

[N2TORTS]

Interesting J.D.!!!

Kathy ….it’s actually my Fathers invention and patent used more so in the medical and bio-defense field.
"Paramagnetic-particle detection in lateral-flow assays"; R. T. LaBorde and B. O’Farrell, IVD Technology, 2002. It's on the Website in detail.
For myself , the last couple years trying to apply some of this technology to the topic of this thread. : sexing a tort using DNA methods and or other such body fluid analysis .
Also there are other recent technologies that CAN predict an unborn sex let alone one already born ( same concept). Using DNA…..
“In a natural process, fetal cells die and pass into the mother’s bloodstream. As these cells break down, fetal DNA is released into the mother’s own circulatory system. Pink or Blue® can detect the baby’s DNA as early as 7 weeks into a pregnancy which is approximately 9 weeks from your last menstrual period. Pink or Blue® have developed a process to determine the baby’s sex based on analysis of the fetal DNA in the mother's bloodstream”
http://www.tellmepinkorblue.com/Gender-Testing-Science.php

 

[peasinapod]

RE: AW: is sexing possible?

I am surprised there is no DNA sexing available. Seems there are enough tort and turtle keepers to make it a profitable business pursuit.
They've been doing it with parrots for years. Of course with birds it's easy. Pluck a feather and send it.
For my horse, I just had to pluck tail hairs, and for my dogs, a mouth swab. Those weren't for sexing purposes, of course. lol

Problem is, you can't tell a tortoises sex by its DNA.

Well now I just learned something new. I always thought you couldn't tell a tortoises sex by its DNA because it s temperature determined. But a quick google search proved me wrong. Seems they found some sex-specific DNA in at least a few species of sea turtles. How cool!