New Greek, help please!

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comebakthursday

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me and whitney 076.JPGme and whitney 074.JPGme and whitney 077.JPGme and whitney 070.JPGHey all,
I have been keeping my eye on a greek in petsmart(i know i know..) for the last few weeks and just the other day my wife finally caved and agreed to buy him.
I need help identifying its sex. The length and width of its tail would lead me to believe it is a male, yet its almost convex plastron would lead me to believe otherwise.
In our indoor habitat I am keeping them separate until I can take it to a vet, but today being one of the first really warm days outside, I placed both of my greeks(my original one I know to be a male) in the outside habitat. My wife caught my greek tortoise mating with our new tortoise. I understand that some species will do this with the same sex, I am just trying to get some clarification. If someone could view the pictures and get back to me I would appreciate it.
 
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JoesMum

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comebakthursday said:
Hey all,
I have been keeping my eye on a greek in petsmart(i know i know..) for the last few weeks and just the other day my wife finally caved and agreed to buy him.
I need help identifying its sex. The length and width of its tail would lead me to believe it is a male, yet its almost convex plastron would lead me to believe otherwise.
In our indoor habitat I am keeping them separate until I can take it to a vet, but today being one of the first really warm days outside, I placed both of my greeks(my original one I know to be a male) in the outside habitat. My wife caught my greek tortoise mating with our new tortoise. I understand that some species will do this with the same sex, I am just trying to get some clarification. If someone could view the pictures and get back to me I would appreciate it.
This mating is not mating - it is a territorial dispute.

All Testudo species are solitary in the wild and, in captivity, disputes over food and territory are common regardless of gender. The subordinate tortoise goes into decline and can become ill and die. Fighting can be a bloody affair, literally :(

A new tortoise must be kept entirely separately from yours for a good 6 months in captivity... that means no occasional meetings. this is to prevent illness spreading from one to another. By allowing contact even for one day, you are taking risks with your torts' health (both of them)

They should be separated... and after the quarantine period, you must accept that this separation may have to be permanent.
 

comebakthursday

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JoesMum said:
comebakthursday said:
Hey all,
I have been keeping my eye on a greek in petsmart(i know i know..) for the last few weeks and just the other day my wife finally caved and agreed to buy him.
I need help identifying its sex. The length and width of its tail would lead me to believe it is a male, yet its almost convex plastron would lead me to believe otherwise.
In our indoor habitat I am keeping them separate until I can take it to a vet, but today being one of the first really warm days outside, I placed both of my greeks(my original one I know to be a male) in the outside habitat. My wife caught my greek tortoise mating with our new tortoise. I understand that some species will do this with the same sex, I am just trying to get some clarification. If someone could view the pictures and get back to me I would appreciate it.
This mating is not mating - it is a territorial dispute.

All Testudo species are solitary in the wild and, in captivity, disputes over food and territory are common regardless of gender. The subordinate tortoise goes into decline and can become ill and die. Fighting can be a bloody affair, literally :(

A new tortoise must be kept entirely separately from yours for a good 6 months in captivity... that means no occasional meetings. this is to prevent illness spreading from one to another. By allowing contact even for one day, you are taking risks with your torts' health (both of them)

They should be separated... and after the quarantine period, you must accept that this separation may have to be permanent.

Thank you for this information! Could you possibly tell me the sex of the tortoise? And how do you know how to tell the difference between mating and a territorial dispute?
 

JoesMum

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I'm guessing at female.

There is little difference between mating and disputes... a male RT's approach to sex is far from romantic... rape would be a better description. The biting, butting and mounting are common to both activities and both genders unfortunately... even down to the squeaking.
 

comebakthursday

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JoesMum said:
I'm guessing at female.

There is little difference between mating and disputes... a male RT's approach to sex is far from romantic... rape would be a better description. The biting, butting and mounting are common to both activities and both genders unfortunately... even down to the squeaking.

Im sorry im not totally up with the lingo, is RT russian tortoise?
 

Tccarolina

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comebakthursday said:
JoesMum said:
Yes, sorry... Russian... RT... all the same :)

Would anybody else care to possibly chime in regarding the sex of my greek? All comments appreciated!

He looks to be a male to me, and nice looking. The vent is pretty far down on the tail, and the vent is well past the plastron edge. How long is his carapace?

And you're right, he's a greek, not a Russian tortoise. Not sure why that got thrown in. But since when did Petsmart start carrying Greeks? All of my local stores only carry boring Russians (sorry all you RT people!).

Steve

Steve
 

comebakthursday

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He looks to be a male to me, and nice looking. The vent is pretty far down on the tail, and the vent is well past the plastron edge. How long is his carapace?

And you're right, he's a greek, not a Russian tortoise. Not sure why that got thrown in. But since when did Petsmart start carrying Greeks? All of my local stores only carry boring Russians (sorry all you RT people!).

Steve

Steve
[/quote]

His carapace is about 5 1/2 inches. The vent? Im not sure exactly what you mean, could you elaborate please?(sorry still learning here..)

Petsmart will occasionally carry Greeks. We actually got both of our greeks from petsmart. You just have to catch them at the right time, once every few months they will get them in but they usually go pretty fast.
 

JoshgOC

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I got mine at PetSmart as well. Bought not just the one I originally planned, but both Ibera Greek males that they had just added to inventory. I felt I had to rescue them from their tiny quarters. I've heard some horror stories like this http://thegreektortoiseguild.blogspot.com/2010/01/pet-stores.html (not saying this is from PetSmart, but all the same), but mine looked healthy and are thriving in their new home. Ramming only occurred once and now they seem to accept each other since with the dominant one in charge I guess. We're still on warranty for a bit so in case it goes south we can sadly return the grunt. Good luck with your new tort!
 

redbeef

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supremelysteve said:
comebakthursday said:
JoesMum said:
Yes, sorry... Russian... RT... all the same :)

Would anybody else care to possibly chime in regarding the sex of my greek? All comments appreciated!

He looks to be a male to me, and nice looking. The vent is pretty far down on the tail, and the vent is well past the plastron edge. How long is his carapace?

And you're right, he's a greek, not a Russian tortoise. Not sure why that got thrown in. But since when did Petsmart start carrying Greeks? All of my local stores only carry boring Russians (sorry all you RT people!).

Steve

Steve

the petsmart near me (southern CA, moreno valley/riverside) had a greek last time I was there 2 weeks ago...first time I'd seen one in there. I saw on here someone else saw some in another petsmart in a different area: must be a new shipment...I'd never seen them in there myself in the 7 or so years I've been going to that petsmart.
 

ShervyBaby

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Petsmart's in MD have been carrying Greek Tortoise's for the past month. I just re-bought the one I returned a few weeks ago :O)
(I was mis informed by the idiots at the store after they told me a 20L tank would be good for my little guy. So I returned it and made a indoor enclosure from scratcH)
 
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