Sexing STARS and GROWTH rate...

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egyptiandan

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Yup you've got it Candy :) That and the longer tail of the male :p
This works before they get sexually mature and can go by the tail size.

Danny
 

Candy

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And is this true with all tortoises or just the Stars? :)
 

Redfoot NERD

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Candy said:
Those are very confusing to me. So what you're saying Danny is that if tips of the anal scutes are pointing outward away from the tail then it's a boy and if they are puffy and pointing inward towards the tail then it's a female?

Candy.. Danny is the only one that see's two females here..

a2004PAIR.jpg


Terry K

egyptiandan said:
Yup they are both still female :)

The males did have problems with the way the plastrons grew, but you can still see that the ends of the anal scutes are growing away from the tails and not towards the tails. :D

They all look great Terry :)

Danny

Thank you! When you have someone like Bill Zovickian helping it's easy to keep them right!

Danny the tail size has nothing to do with it?

Terry K

I found the pic of the '00 pair as 4 incher's at 4 1/2 years old..

1a4inchSTARPair2.jpg


They now look like this..

a2000PAIR.jpg
 

egyptiandan

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At the size they are now it does :D Thats not a males tail :p

This works for Stars, Leopards and Sulcatas. Not sure about Burmese stars though.
There are different "tricks" for telling sex at a younger than mature size for almost every species of tortoises. There's no way you can "lump" them together. :D

Danny
 

Candy

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Yeah, but until someone comes on here with more experience in this field then Danny then I'm going to go with his guess. I've so far never seen him be wrong. :D :p

I would love to know how you learned those tricks? Did it take you years of learning and practicing? Or was it something that came more natural to you? :D
 

elegans

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I have had stars that I was sure of sex wise turn from "Females" to males in their 4th year, more than a few! This was before we raised the TSD for our female eggs. I have never had a Star that looked like a male turn out to be a female, but the other way around certainly! It is also fairly notable that the females are larger and rounder than the males, even at 2 to 3 years old. before they would be showing secondary sex characteristics. I have had the same thing happen with Elongated tortoises. Best wishes Douglas Beard / Flora & Fauna

I do not see anything in the picture that gives a size scale, but I am with Terry on this one. I would bet on a pair if they are in the 3" to 4" size range. It looks to me like the smaller one on the right is even trying to evert in the pict?? Just my read on it. Douglas Beard
 

Redfoot NERD

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elegans said:
I have had stars that I was sure of sex wise turn from "Females" to males in their 4th year, more than a few! This was before we raised the TSD for our female eggs. I have never had a Star that looked like a male turn out to be a female, but the other way around certainly! It is also fairly notable that the females are larger and rounder than the males, even at 2 to 3 years old. before they would be showing secondary sex characteristics. I have had the same thing happen with Elongated tortoises. Best wishes Douglas Beard / Flora & Fauna

I do not see anything in the picture that gives a size scale, but I am with Terry on this one. I would bet on a pair if they are in the 3" to 4" size range. It looks to me like the smaller one on the right is even trying to evert in the pict?? Just my read on it. Douglas Beard



From above Douglas.. The one on the left is 4 3/4".. the one on the right is 4 1/4" with much larger tail -
'she' has grown 3/4" in just shy 2 years.. "he" barely 3/8".

Terry K
 

Redfoot NERD

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Candy said:
Who is Douglas Beard? :(

The foremost current Sri Lankan star breeder in the U.S. A former Indian star breeder. A large breeder of Northern, Brazilian and Bolivian redfoot tortoises. Located in southern FL.

Terry K
 

Candy

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Oh because I googled him and came up with nothing. I thought maybe he had a book out or something like that.
 

gummybearpoop

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Redfoot NERD said:
Candy said:
Who is Douglas Beard? :(

The foremost current Sri Lankan star breeder in the U.S. A former Indian star breeder. A large breeder of Northern, Brazilian and Bolivian redfoot tortoises. Located in southern FL.

Terry K

Also the producer of the lavender albino redfoot tortoise! Nice guy with lots of knowledge. He has been posting recently mostly in controversial threads stating that he doesn't get on tortoiseforum because of some of the debates

Candy said:
Oh because I googled him and came up with nothing. I thought maybe he had a book out or something like that.

Candy,
A good portion of people who work with tortoises don't have websites or books. There are some people I know who breed an incredible amount of tortoises (rare and common) and do not advertise whatsoever, especially to prevent thefts. I try to get some of them to get on tortoiseforum, but they don't have the time to get on. :(

If you wanted a Bolivian redfoot or Sri lankan star, Douglas Beard is definately one of the people you should contact.

Take care
 

Candy

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So am I right to assume that Elegans is Douglas Beard? Or am I just way off here? :(
 

Candy

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Wow you learn something new everyday. I've seen him post before, but this is news to me and good new might I add. :D
 

gummybearpoop

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Candy said:
Wow you learn something new everyday. I've seen him post before, but this is news to me and good new might I add. :D

That is what is wonderful about tortoise forum...learning and talking with others that we wouldn't most likely talk to without the internet.

Elegans mostly posts in the star tortoise (geochelone elegans) thread. Thus, Elegans.
 

Candy

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Why not so much in the Redfoot section? I could use all the help I can get with Dale and Ruby. :D I need him to share his wisdom with me so I can raise them the best way I can. :)
 

gummybearpoop

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Candy said:
Why not so much in the Redfoot section? I could use all the help I can get with Dale and Ruby. :D I need him to share his wisdom with me so I can raise them the best way I can. :)

I believe one of his main focuses is Sri Lankan Stars. You should just PM him for his email address for questions. I have made a lot of contacts and obtained a great deal of information by contacting various breeders through email.
 

Redfoot NERD

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Candy Douglas gave us his take on 'sexing stars", etc. And we're both on the same page when it comes to caring for redfoots - all of the info is there. I've had numerous conversations with Douglas and I'm sure he would tell you the same.

Terry K
 
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