# Male or female? Three years old desert tortoise



## kazjimmy (Jun 15, 2019)




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## Markw84 (Jun 15, 2019)

Too small to tell


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## dmmj (Jun 15, 2019)

Yes need to be much bigger to sex


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## kazjimmy (Jun 15, 2019)

What’s your best guess


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## Yvonne G (Jun 15, 2019)

They all have female characteristics until they get bigger. So, at this size the best guess is it might be female, but then again, it might be male.


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## kazjimmy (Jun 16, 2019)

Yvonne G said:


> They all have female characteristics until they get bigger. So, at this size the best guess is it might be female, but then again, it might be male.



So those het sulcata male or female pick were fake posted on floridaiguana website? I am super confuse since I have sulcata for over 15 years. How could they identify those male or female when they were only 4 inch or so.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 16, 2019)

The seller is probably going by the incubation temperature.


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## kazjimmy (Jun 16, 2019)

I’m sorry. It’s a desert tortoise


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## kazjimmy (Jun 16, 2019)




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## Tom (Jun 16, 2019)

Breeders can influence the sex of the babies by adjusting the temperature in the incubator up or down a little. Low end of the range produces males. High end of the range produces females. This has only been studied and documented in sulcatas. The actual temps are not known in other species and it frequently does produce the desired results. I bought 14 platynota that were all incubated for female and 8 are male. G-Stars bought 15 and all 15 were male.

So when these "temp sexed" babies go up for sale, the people selling will often refer to them as "temp sexed for female" or "temp sexed for male". Its not a guarantee, but you are more likely to get what you are after if they were incubated at a given temp.

The DT in your pics is looking female at this stage, but its too early to call it for sure.


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Jun 17, 2019)

kazjimmy said:


> What’s your best guess



Total guess, from pic, female.


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## kazjimmy (Jun 17, 2019)

Since it’s a DT. I have no interest no experience no confidence to keep it. Give up the adoption.


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## bioteach (Jul 5, 2019)

kazjimmy said:


> View attachment 274811


We had a hatchling that we were certain was female. Imagine our surprise when "she" turned 13. "Her" name was Timi and when "she" came out of hibernation her 13th summer "she" was Timmy. We brought her/him to the vet for her/his pre-hibernation check a simple probe revealed a penis! 

Be patient - you have several years of guessing before you can be truly sure.


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## Coco Channell (Jul 20, 2019)

Looks like my female Pixie. She has long toe nails. The females dig the burrows


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## ascott (Jul 20, 2019)

kazjimmy said:


> View attachment 274847
> View attachment 274848
> View attachment 274849



Fifty cents says that is a male. However, until the tort is a bit larger, not so much older, you can not be certain. This is a CDT and not a Sulcata...They grow at a different rate. It will take a few more inches to offer a better guess....


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## ascott (Jul 20, 2019)

kazjimmy said:


> View attachment 274811


 How long have you had the tort? Where did you acquire it from....beautiful tort by the way -


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## kazjimmy (Jul 21, 2019)

ascott said:


> How long have you had the tort? Where did you acquire it from....beautiful tort by the way -



Not my tortoise. Someone try to sell it online.


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## Yvonne G (Jul 21, 2019)

kazjimmy said:


> Not my tortoise. Someone try to sell it online.


It is against the law to "sell" desert tortoises. It is also against the law to buy them.


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## kazjimmy (Jul 21, 2019)

Yvonne G said:


> It is against the law to "sell" desert tortoises. It is also against the law to buy them.



I know. They post as tortoise but did not specifically name out the species name.


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