I acquired a young PAIR of Indian STAR tortoises in March '08.. notice how they were almost exactly the same size. [ note the date in ALL of these pics ]
He was just shy 4" SCL.. about 3 7/8"
She was a little over 4" SCL.. about 4 1/8"
- A YEAR AND A MONTH LATER -
He has grown a whole 1/8" SCL.. now 4"
See the ANAL scute spread..
She has grown at least 1/2" SCL.. now 4 5/8"
See the extreme inverted "U" shape of her anal scutes..
The guess is that these hatched in '04.. and it was obvious that they were a pair @ 4" SCL. Whether it is possible to sex them at a smaller size is questionable.
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I have noticed that the carapace "pattern" on a female seems to have 'fewer' radiating lines..
And OLD adults can be extreme in the size differences of males and females.. { this will really mess-up the 'scute' theory }..
For more of the story read the article in the "Species Profile" here..
http://www.turtletary.com/stars.html
Terry K
He was just shy 4" SCL.. about 3 7/8"
She was a little over 4" SCL.. about 4 1/8"
- A YEAR AND A MONTH LATER -
He has grown a whole 1/8" SCL.. now 4"
See the ANAL scute spread..
She has grown at least 1/2" SCL.. now 4 5/8"
See the extreme inverted "U" shape of her anal scutes..
The guess is that these hatched in '04.. and it was obvious that they were a pair @ 4" SCL. Whether it is possible to sex them at a smaller size is questionable.
***********
I have noticed that the carapace "pattern" on a female seems to have 'fewer' radiating lines..
And OLD adults can be extreme in the size differences of males and females.. { this will really mess-up the 'scute' theory }..
For more of the story read the article in the "Species Profile" here..
http://www.turtletary.com/stars.html
Terry K