Tortoise ID Please

[matt41gb]

I said it's a Sulcata and my post has disappeared. The one freakin time I'm right and somebody deleted my post! Heck!

I said it was a Sulcata on the 28th...what happened to my post?

Haha!! That stinks!! I thought that kind of stuff only happened to me.

-Matt

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I said it's a Sulcata and my post has disappeared. The one freakin time I'm right and somebody deleted my post! Heck!

I said it was a Sulcata on the 28th...what happened to my post?

Haha!! That stinks!! I thought that kind of stuff only happened to me.

-Matt

hahaha... me too!

 

[Laura]

if i could see the pictures better,, i would hve said that.. but dont have the patience to wait for them to open.. and im not sure what a chaco looks like..

 

[dmmj]

I said it's a Sulcata and my post has disappeared. The one freakin time I'm right and somebody deleted my post! Heck!

I said it was a Sulcata on the 28th...what happened to my post?

It's a conspiracy

 

[LeeFJ]

Maggie,
I remember you posting that too. Must have disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on it's way here to me in Australia!....should have taken the Pacific Ocean route!
Lee

 

[Yvonne G]

I said it's a Sulcata and my post has disappeared. The one freakin time I'm right and somebody deleted my post! Heck!

I said it was a Sulcata on the 28th...what happened to my post?

Because you're a ditsy old lady, you forgot to hit the "post reply" button!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Maggie,
I remember you posting that too. Must have disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on it's way here to me in Australia!....should have taken the Pacific Ocean route!
Lee

Thanks for backing me up Lee...

 

[LeeFJ]

Hi Again,

Thankyou all very much for your informed thoughts.
You guys have narrowed it down to either a Chaco or a Sulcata.

I have finally got hold of some more pics that might shed some more light on the ident...maybe even it's gender?
These give a size perspective and a plastron view.

This time they are low res and should be quick to open.

Lee

 

[Yvonne G]

Male sulcata. If you put him into a shallow tub of warm water for a while, you will be able to take a brush to all the grime and dirt and get him cleaned up. He'll end up being a pretty, tan color.

 

[Tom]

Given the size, age, origin info, plastron color, type of pyramiding, lack of spurs on the thighs, appearance of the front leg scales, lack of plastron concavity, tiny gulars, and small tail with the cloacal opening at the end, I'm still guessing female chaco. Even if I had the tortoise in my hands, it would still be a guess given all the particulars involved.

It doesn't matter a whole lot either way since the care and diet is pretty similar.

Also, the conditions necessary to keep a 46 year old sulcata in that sort of condition and at that size, could also account for the disagreement here. If it is a sulcata, its a really oddball one. And if the origin info has any truth to it at all (big IF), it is VERY unlikely that there would have been a hatchling sulcata in that part of the world 46 years ago. Physically possible? Yes. Even remotely likely? No.

Yvonne, have you seen Stepahanie's chaco DVD? You might change your mind if you saw it.

---

Comparison pics:

50 pound male sulcata.

75 pound female sulcata.

35 pound female sulcata.

Notice the obvious spurs and the total lack of plastron pigment. Also notice the size difference on the gular scutes, plastron concavity in the male and tail size.

 

[Laura]

awfully small for a 46 year old sulcata!! even if bad care given, it would be bigger then a 2 year old..
am i missing something? or looking at wrong pictures?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Some chaco tortoise pics I found:

 

[LeeFJ]

Thanks everyone for your replies,
Tom, you make a very good point about the lack of spurs on the thigh, a very telling factor in the ID process!..and you reckon a girl?
Are the Chaco's sexually dimorphic like most of our Aussie freshwater turtles...males being smaller?
I have still not seen the tort yet so only have the pics to go by as well, but looks to be about 23-25cm (9-10inches for you guys).
Bye for now
Lee