Sexual maturity on a hemanni male question

[TCM]

Hi all.

I'm from Spain and just joined this forum, I have a hermanii hermanii male and a friend of has lent me a female.

I have a question, the fact that the male is contiuously trying to mate with the female does it mean that that male is sexually mature?

Sounds obvious but I heard that some species may show the mating behaviour but not be sexually mature.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Toni

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Toni:

Welcome to the forum!!

I don't have Hermann's so I can't help with your questions. Just wanted to say hello and glad to have you with us.

 

[Orpexo]

In the wild a male hermanni hits maturity at 10 years from what I read. However being in a closed habitat make them reach puberty faster especially if they don't hibernate. I beleive in such condition 5 years would be enough. But 2 years would be very early!

The fact that they are locked in a small habitat also encourage the male to mate more frequently. In the wild tortoise meets ocasionally only.
The behaviour comes before the fertility.

All what I say is to be confirmed by somebody more experienced than I am, I'm just a parrot repeating what I seen on various forums

 

[GBtortoises]

Size has more of an influence on sexual maturity than age. In captivity tortoises tend to grow faster than their wild counterparts and therefore usually mature much sooner. You also have to factor in that the Western Hermann's (Testudo hermanni hermanni) is the smallest of the Hermann's subspecies as adult so therefore they are going to be a smaller size when they reach maturity. A captive raised female may reach sexual maturity when as small as 4" (10cm) and a male even smaller. Although is most cases a male under 4" is usually going to be much less capable of reproducing simply because of being able to successfully mount a female due to small body size. But there are exceptions to every rule!

 

[chikken]

So even though my tortoise is only about 10 months old, because he's almost 4", he may be sexually mature? Or at least ready to show what he's got? He's just started "flashing" this week and I'm a little bit nervous about this. I was prepared to not be able to tell what he was for a good year at least. (But I'm glad that I can finally give him a gender-specific name. Or any name at all.)

 

[GBtortoises]

So even though my tortoise is only about 10 months old, because he's almost 4", he may be sexually mature? Or at least ready to show what he's got? He's just started "flashing" this week and I'm a little bit nervous about this. I was prepared to not be able to tell what he was for a good year at least. (But I'm glad that I can finally give him a gender-specific name. Or any name at all.)

It does depend somewhat on whether you're referring to a Western Hermann's T. h. hermanni or the larger Eastern subspecies T. h. boettgeri since they can very different in mature size. Most Eastern Hermann's males begin to come into maturity at around 4". Some slightly smaller, most a bit larger but generally speaking 4" is often the median size that they begin to flash and take a true interest in females. Westerns on the other hand do mature at a much smaller size since they are a smaller as adults than their subspecies counterparts. At only 10 months old, a 4" Eastern Hermann's or Western Hermann's is bigger than would normally be at that age. Most at that age are anywhere from about 2.5-3". While size has very much to do with sexual maturity with Hermann's I very much believe that it is a combination of size and to a lesser degree age. If your Hermann's is an Eastern it may display sexual intent but may not yet be capable of successfully copulating with a female just yet. If it's a Western it would absolutely be able to successfully copulate with a female of it's species. But as always, there are exceptions to every rule!

 

[chikken]

Thank you for your answer! It's definitely one of the Eastern subspecies. Measuring him now, he's just a hair under 4". Because I was shocked at how quickly he was outgrowing the palm of my hand (and because I'm a science nerd) I've been charting his weight and length since I got him, and it seemed to be normal with Jackson's ratio, but it makes me wonder what's up with him.
This being my first tortoise, the past year watching this hatchling grow up has been a very educational journey and I really appreciate you guys and your knowledge.