Sexing Redfoot tortoise or infertile Redfoot tortoise

[Chase6400]

The smaller Redfoot in my images is my breeder male. The one on the opposite side is my breeder female. My question is about the larger tortoise in the middle. She/he was sold to me almost 10 years ago as a male along with the large female. They always mated for me, but never laid any fertile eggs, and the eggs that were laid were laid only once and were found on the ground. Once my male became breeding size, he started breeding with the female but very rarely the largest tortoise. The largest one also tries to breed with my female once a month still. I believe the largest one is a female, but she has not laid eggs and still tries to breed with my female. Is there a possibility she is a male? Or is there a chance she is infertile? The other female has laid four clutches this year, but my largest has seemed to have no interest.

Just for extra information, I live in south Texas, and they spend most of the year outdoors. I feed them leafy greens and vegetables, but their enclosure is also full of petunias, hibiscus, and spineless cactus, so they are eating plenty.

 

[bonsai tortoise]

I’d say female. The initial clutch that was laid just could have been a first clutch and that’s why they were laid on top of the ground and only brought about by hormones and not mating. I’ve had females that lay on top of the ground due to inexperience. Females can mount females for dominance purposes also. The fact that your male doesn’t mount the larger female as much could simply be a compatibility issue. Size shouldn’t matter there but there is a big difference in size so maybe that contributes with his inability to mate with her. He’s rather small so hopefully he’ll gain in size and maybe then be able to successfully mate with her.