OMG, aren't they So'ooo BEAUTIFUL! Thank you for that pict...In the turtle and tortoise world, there are variations of hypo (lacking color) and melanistic (darker). People favor hypo and put in a lot of work (and money) to breed albinos.
Most unique patterns and colors are natural and vary by region/subspecies. Some examples are cherryhead tortoises that have marbling, pardalis vs. babcocki leopard tortoises, and one of my favorites, the Golden Greek. In general, tortoises just aren't very flashy.
Box turtles are an exception - some of them are very striking.
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When we have so many unethical breeders who are in it for the money, not to save endangered species, I just don't get "hype" species or interbreeding different species. Do we really need to take on the ruse that we're buying something because someone else might beat me to it if I don't buy it? IF there was no market for morphs, they wouldn't exist except on the rare occasion.What I don't care for: Hybrids, albinos. There are a few turtle hybrids I've seen that are visually attractive, but producing them is either ethically questionable (for non-endangered species) or clearly unethical (for endangered species). In general, the tortoise hybrids I have seen look rather "meh". For example, the leopard/sulcata hybrids have a very washed out pattern, a large pure south african leopard looks MUCH better. Same with the redfoot / leopard hybrids. They have some red and a washed out shell pattern, but inferior in quality to either parent. And as far as albino or ivory, I simply don't find a pure white animal (or very light / faded colors) to be attractive. We are talking about animals that are clearly genetically defective or compromised, so why would we intentionally select for this? Ivory or amelanistic is better than albino, but not by much.
Middle ground: Hypo, pastel, melanistic "charcoal" morphs. I'm either indifferent or find them somewhat attractive.
What I prefer: Locality specific forms, unique natural color / pattern variations, and natural variation that is enhanced by selective breeding. As far as tortoises:
- Redfoots with very high red skin coverage
- Redfoot shell marbling that does not fade with age.
- Radiated or star tortoises that have high yellow and bold patterning.
- Locality-specific Hermanns and Greek tortoises, especially those with high contrast.
Steve
Hybrids are
Here are 2 examples of leopard x sulcata hybrids I don’t feel like they look washed outWhat I don't care for: Hybrids, albinos. There are a few turtle hybrids I've seen that are visually attractive, but producing them is either ethically questionable (for non-endangered species) or clearly unethical (for endangered species). In general, the tortoise hybrids I have seen look rather "meh". For example, the leopard/sulcata hybrids have a very washed out pattern, a large pure south african leopard looks MUCH better. Same with the redfoot / leopard hybrids. They have some red and a washed out shell pattern, but inferior in quality to either parent. And as far as albino or ivory, I simply don't find a pure white animal (or very light / faded colors) to be attractive. We are talking about animals that are clearly genetically defective or compromised, so why would we intentionally select for this? Ivory or amelanistic is better than albino, but not by much.
Middle ground: Hypo, pastel, melanistic "charcoal" morphs. I'm either indifferent or find them somewhat attractive.
What I prefer: Locality specific forms, unique natural color / pattern variations, and natural variation that is enhanced by selective breeding. As far as tortoises:
- Redfoots with very high red skin coverage
- Redfoot shell marbling that does not fade with age.
- Radiated or star tortoises that have high yellow and bold patterning.
- Locality-specific Hermanns and Greek tortoises, especially those with high contrast.
Steve
Hybrids are
Here are 2 examples of leopard x sulcata hybrids I don’t feel like they look washed out
I just came across this post I know its a little old but here are some sulcata color morphs. They are albino,ivory,super hypo green,and albino paradox.Hello! I was recently thinking about corn snake morphs and started wondering if there were any turtle or tortoise morphs? If so, what is everyone’s favorite?
If you have examples, please post the pictures here!
Those are actually pretty coolI think the Hypo Redfoots are pretty cool. Tortstork currently has some available too.View attachment 329162