Sexing Star Tortoises

Dkozi7

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These are up for sale at $600 and are 2 years old. They are still small but any clue on what sex they could be leaning toward. Good deal or just eh?
 

Dkozi7

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Each. I would be getting them for sure if it was for both.!
 

Tom

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Looks like a male and female to me too, based on anal scute shape. I had all my stars correctly sexed at two years old.
 

G-stars

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I can't say if that's a good deal or not. If it's a nice HEALTHY pair, then yes I think it's a good deal. I ask a lot of questions and for many pictures any time I acquire more tortoises.
 

Dkozi7

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That makes sense. Male is from Kenan Harkin and female is from tortoise supply. She has had them from hatchlings and they have very smooth growth. The only thing I wasn't sure about was weight. She said they are 170 grams. Seemed a little low but I have little experience with stars. My star I got as a hatchling at 21g is now 44g at 2 months old.
 

Tom

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That makes sense. Male is from Kenan Harkin and female is from tortoise supply. She has had them from hatchlings and they have very smooth growth. The only thing I wasn't sure about was weight. She said they are 170 grams. Seemed a little low but I have little experience with stars. My star I got as a hatchling at 21g is now 44g at 2 months old.
That is pretty good weight for two year old Indian stars. If they were 50 grams and heavily pyramided, I'd be worried. 170 grams? You should be good to go.
 

Markw84

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Agree with Tom. Sounds like decent growth and weight for 2 yrs. Not fast growth, but decent.

The biggest thing for me is the relative weight of the tortoise for it's size. The formulas I use and have found works for most all my tortoises over the decades, would show an ideal weight for a mildly pyramided tortoise:
For a star male at 4" - 169g. At 3.5" - 113g.
For a star female, at 4" - 195g and at 3.5" - 131g

From the looks in your pictures the ones you show look well within a very good range.

Also agree: Female top, male bottom. Although the male does have a bit of a female shape overall, and the female more of a male shape! Interesting!
 

Neal

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Those are hard angles to play the guess the sex game with. Judging just by the anal scutes, I would agree with the others that #1 is female, however, I would like to see a more clear angle of the tip of the tail as it extends past the cloaca to be certain.

I am not so sure about #2, it looks like the tail tapers off quite abruptly after the cloaca which is characteristic of female. Male stars tend to develop larger tails at a very young age, so I would expect the tail to be a bit longer. Maybe it is longer than it looks here, it's tough angle to judge from.

A more direct shot of the tails showing their length and shape, as well as a shot of the supracaudal scute would help significantly.
 

Dkozi7

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I have asked for more pictures. I will post as soon as I get them. Thanks everyone!
 

Dkozi7

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Suspected female. More pics. ?? ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1502764165.148331.jpg
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G-stars

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I'm going to change my answer after seeing those pictures. They both look like males to me now. Tails are to long at that size to be females.
 

Dkozi7

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Well definitely don't want two males. Anyone else? Thanks g-stars!
 

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