Sexing a Sulcata

[JEAE21]

Yeah they wax him every 2weeks.
lol, just kidding, it was just a bright day..is it a bad thing if he's shiny?

I think he's around 10 years old.. the 1st owner had shell-chan in a tiny-ass enclosure so he didn't grow much..
Now his owner let him loose around the yard and house so he started growing immediatley after the move!

 

[DJC776]

No I was only asking because some 'keepers?' over here put oil etc on the shell to make them look shiny. All that does is block the shell which is bad news.

 

[JEAE21]

that's not good..

 

[JEAE21]

Here’s Shell-chan.
Sorry; I couldn’t get any plastron shots…nobody helped me…

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/JEAE/?action=view&current=DIY001.jpg

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/JEAE/?action=view&current=DIY002.jpg

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/JEAE/?action=view&current=DIY003.jpg

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/JEAE/?action=view&current=DIY004.jpg

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/JEAE/?action=view&current=DIY005.jpg

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/JEAE/?action=view&current=DIY007.jpg

 

[vicedretard]

no can do with out the plastron shots my friend...someone may take a stab at sexing based on the gulars under the neck but im not sure how much i would trust that as an overall sexing technique(maybe if that among other sexing techs like the next mentioned) but if you go to your friends house and feel the belly/plastron and it concaves its a male...or get down low and take a look at the anal scutes if they are narrow its a female and if they are wider/ flared its a male...try to figure out using as many techniques to point to one sex...

 

[demjor19]

what we need is a stomach shot (plastron). that should show what we need to sex this tort. that will show the anal scutes and the gullars. sulcatas can be very difficult to sex do to thet fact that they reach sexual maturity at roughly 10-15 years of age. so...get some underside shots and maybe we can tell you what you have.

btw...very nice tort. it has a little pyramiding, but not too bad. Calcium, UV exposure, and a low protien diet are the most important factors in raisng a healthy sulcata tortoise.

 

[JEAE21]

will do in a few weeks!

yeah, the past owner didn't keep him well..too much calcium and had him in a tiny cage. so that's why Shell-chan is a bit small for their age.
now Shell-chan is kept outdoors and can come indoors freely.
i kinda like the pyramid look though!! it's not bad is it?

 

[demjor19]

will do in a few weeks!

yeah, the past owner didn't keep him well..too much calcium and had him in a tiny cage. so that's why Shell-chan is a bit small for their age.
now Shell-chan is kept outdoors and can come indoors freely.
i kinda like the pyramid look though!! it's not bad is it?

too much calcium is not the problem...calcium is very good. too much protien and too little UV is bad and contributes to pyramiding. pyramiding is bad and actually represents too fast of growth. remember sulcatas come from dry crappy parts of the earth that have very low quality food. so slow growth is very natural.

 

[JEAE21]

oh okay.
once it pyramids it won't go back to normal right?

 

[demjor19]

oh okay.
once it pyramids it won't go back to normal right?

the raised parts of the shell will not go away, but it will look less severe as he continues to grow at a healthier rate.