Other than the triplets that hatched in September, this orange hatchling was the only exceptional neonate that we hatched in 2011...
This is the same view one year later...
The striped legs were obvious right out of the egg...
A year later they still are eye catching...
The front was OK too and he had an 'X' on his nose...
As the animal has aged the X sort of disappeared but the orange color is still there. The camera flash makes it look more yellow orange than it is though...
So far it looks like a female-- but in my experience young red-footed tortoises can go from looking like a typical female to an absolute male very quickly. This change can take place when they are as small a 5 inches or as large as 8 inches. In cherryheads it seems to occur in the 5 to 6 inch range.
This is the same view one year later...
The striped legs were obvious right out of the egg...
A year later they still are eye catching...
The front was OK too and he had an 'X' on his nose...
As the animal has aged the X sort of disappeared but the orange color is still there. The camera flash makes it look more yellow orange than it is though...
So far it looks like a female-- but in my experience young red-footed tortoises can go from looking like a typical female to an absolute male very quickly. This change can take place when they are as small a 5 inches or as large as 8 inches. In cherryheads it seems to occur in the 5 to 6 inch range.
