Can a male red foot hatchling exhibit any dominance over other larger females?

willee638

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I have observed on a couple of occasions a "not yet determent sex" red foot hatchling make clocking sounds like a chicken when near a much larger female yearling, I've read once in a red foot tortoise facts sheet this is the sound males make to communicate with females. Are there really distinctive noises made from different gender tortoises for mating, intimidating or warning others?
 

ZEROPILOT

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I have observed on a couple of occasions a "not yet determent sex" red foot hatchling make clocking sounds like a chicken when near a much larger female yearling, I've read once in a red foot tortoise facts sheet this is the sound males make to communicate with females. Are there really distinctive noises made from different gender tortoises for mating, intimidating or warning others?
I've only heard that noise from mature males.
And it DOES sound like a chicken with a sore throat
 

Toddrickfl1

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I have observed on a couple of occasions a "not yet determent sex" red foot hatchling make clocking sounds like a chicken when near a much larger female yearling, I've read once in a red foot tortoise facts sheet this is the sound males make to communicate with females. Are there really distinctive noises made from different gender tortoises for mating, intimidating or warning others?
Yes my male clucks whenever he sees his little sister.
 

willee638

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I have owned my female red footed tort for over a year now & she seldom makes any sounds except on a few occasions when petted, but a little RF tortoise temporarily in my care has made clearly audible noises several times since being in my possession in only a week's time. Is it save to assume it could be male or is this other tort more communicative? They seem to ignore each other even in the same enclosure most of the time, no loss of appetite or aggression between them & they mostly stayed apart.
 

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I have owned my female red footed tort for over a year now & she seldom makes any sounds except on a few occasions when petted, but a little RF tortoise temporarily in my care has made clearly audible noises several times since being in my possession in only a week's time. Is it save to assume it could be male or is this other tort more communicative? They seem to ignore each other even in the same enclosure most of the time, no loss of appetite or aggression between them & they mostly stayed apart.
Forgive me if I'm wrong. And I might be. But I've kept a lot of Redfoot for a lot of years and I've never heard a female vocalize with any sound. Much less that clucking
 

willee638

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Yes, it's good to hear from experienced keepers about their observations too. I also think male red foots are aggressive by nature & they might exhibit this behaviour very early on, I've raised my female RF from a hatchling to a yearling & she only makes very subtle sounds barely audible only when I am close to her & pets her head. It sounded like whirling/bird noises like something a cellphone made electronically, very difficult to describe aside from this no other sounds are heard, since this new hatchling's arrival "assuming he's male" starts making clucking noises from day one when encountering my female RF.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Yes, it's good to hear from experienced keepers about their observations too. I also think male red foots are aggressive by nature & they might exhibit this behaviour very early on, I've raised my female RF from a hatchling to a yearling & she only makes very subtle sounds barely audible only when I am close to her & pets her head. It sounded like whirling/bird noises like something a cellphone made electronically, very difficult to describe aside from this no other sounds are heard, since this new hatchling's arrival "assuming he's male" starts making clucking noises from day one when encountering my female RF.
If your redfoot is only a yearling there's no way to know for sure if it's female. They all look female when they're young. You won't definitely know the sex for 3-5 years.
 
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