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I would like to know what is the second largest tortoise?

That would be the aldabra tortoise, and galapagos are the largest

Although aldabras are the second largest, I have read somewhere they are pretty much the same size. I will have to look for that article...

According to wikipedia Galops are the largest at 660 # but they also tell of an Aldabra at the Ft. Worth zoo at 773#? Of course the size of Galops is dependent on ssp while in Aldabras we are looking at one sp and don't forget the two newly rediscovered Seychele island torts. I think with these animals it probably comes down to individual animals or maybe an average size within a species or subspecie.

Sulcatas are the third largest tortoise and the largest main land tortoise.

Itort Wrote:According to wikipedia Galops are the largest at 660 # but they also tell of an Aldabra at the Ft. Worth zoo at 773#? Of course the size of Galops is dependent on ssp while in Aldabras we are looking at one sp and don't forget the two newly rediscovered Seychele island torts. I think with these animals it probably comes down to individual animals or maybe an average size within a species or subspecie.

Thanks, but I still want to find the article... But I wonder how they determined the sizes, who is the largest and so on, they must take an average and that is how they decided. Anyhow the aladbra is the second largest right now, but with the torts Itort said, that might change.

Here is a link to an article about the torts ITort was talking about... http://members.aol.com/jstgerlach/tortoise.htm if your interested..

COLLECTOR Wrote:I would like to know what is the second larges[/u]t tortoise?

It depends upon which article you are reading. The first article I read (after GOOGLing) was about Galapagos tortoises and it said that they are the largest as they can grow to be over 600lbs.

The next article I read was about Aldabrans and it said that Aldabrans are the largest, as they can grow to be over 600lbs.!!!!!

So, I would say they are 1 and 2, but who knows which is 1 and which is 2. Some folks get down right nasty about arguing which is the biggest, but I say, so what. They're BOTH BIG!!!

Yvonne

Cool I seen a few aldabra tortoise's for sale

Make sure whoever you buy from is reputable, when your spending that much you want a good person to work with. If your really serious about getting one or two and you have plenty of space You might want to contact EJ (Ed) he might have some left.

Curiosity requires I ask this, how large an enclosure do you keep one these guys in?

From all the info I have found the only difference between the Galops and the Aldabs is the Aldabs have a nuchal scute. The size seems to be pretty much the same.

I keep my two in my backyard. They have plenty of room to roam since the are only about 9 inches yet.

Chipdog Wrote:From all the info I have found the only difference between the Galops and the Aldabs is the Aldabs have a nuchal scute. The size seems to be pretty much the same.

I keep my two in my backyard. They have plenty of room to roam since the are only about 9 inches yet.

I read that also

aldabra

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1 Sulcata (Bowser)

http://www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

Everyfhing I've read leads me to conclude that they are the same size. So would that make the sulcatta second largest?

Of course, the Sulcata is only #3 if you ignore the 'extinct in the wild' Seychelle Giant Tortoise and the Arnold's Giant Tortoise, which, considering recent DNA studies, may be the right thing to do.

A lot of the debate over #1 and #2 is how you define your terms- are you looking for species averages or largest known, does weight mean more than length, etc.