Mount Etna Western Hermann's Giant's?

joeyxadkins said:

Can anyone help identify them as Mt. Etna they are quite big the import paperwork only says the microchip number and species. That male is huge 5.6 inches.

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joeyxadkins said:

According to Chris' info from a few years ago, the largest Western Hermann's were the Sardinian ones. Maybe yours are Sardinians.According to the info on Chris' web site, the Mt. Etna population is the smallest of the 4 populations on Sicily. Here is a quote:"Sicilian Testudo hermanni hermanni range from 5 to over 8" for females and 3.6 to 6" for males. Their place of origin on the island seems to have something to do with this. The largest examples reportedly hail from Nebrodi while the smallest come from Mount Etna. In our collection, the tortoises from Mount Etna are very small with the males being the smallest of all T. h. hermanni we have, however, field researchers do suggest there are much larger examples out there. Environmental factors may play a big role in why these tortoises are so small seeing as they live in a harsh area at the base of an active volcano. Below are some examples in our collection showing carapace color, markings and overall size."Maybe yours are the Nebrodi ones or maybe they are not from Sicily at all, but from Sardinia. Is that a possibilty? Here is what he says about Sardinia:
"Like some Sicilian Testudo hermanni hermanni, those found on the island of Sardinia are some of the largest recorded. The tortoises occurring in the southeast of the island are typically larger animals with some females reaching 8" or more. The ground color of the shell is usually more of a greenish hue. Those in the northwest tip around Stintino may be more averaged sized for the western subspecies with more of a golden color. Sardinia's tortoises follow the morphological characteristics typically associated with Italian insular T. h. hermanni. The head is sleek and narrow with a subocular spot that is bright and large. Yellow-green scales are found on top of the head and around the snout and the second vertebral is rounded, dipping forward as it does in Sicilian specimens. Nail color is light, matching the forelimbs. Sardinian tortoises in our care commonly lay more eggs (4 to 6) in a single clutch than any other form we work with. Babies are brawny right out of the egg and grow fast."

You can see pictures of specimens and get more info here: https://www.hermannihaven.com/insular-italy-corsica

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DoubleD1996! said:

Try contacting Chris from Garden State Tortoise. He's a hermanns expert.
[email protected]

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zovick said:

Chris says the Mt. Etna are the smallest race on Sicily.

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joeyxadkins said:

I'm also possibly thinking they could be Nebrodi but it looks like Mr Leone has seen the survey data for the species from Mt Etna so maybe they are this big just from a different part of the mountain? I just noticed that all the Mt Etna came from a handful of adults originally and wanted to bring in new blood.

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Tom said:

How about asking the exporter where they came from? Are these CB and imported from some other part of Europe, or did they come directly from Italy?

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joeyxadkins said:

They where imported from Italy through a broker that was importing some for himself and he just assured me they are Mt. Etna locale. Said they are from a well known breeder that takes the locales very seriously. I was Just trying to get feedback from the community if anyone have seen any this big before.

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Tom said:

Man, that is amazing. Those animals are worth their weight in gold. I hope you get lots of babies from them.

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joeyxadkins said:

I didn't buy them to make money. You are not a nice person.

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Tom said:

@Joe

Who said anything about money? Those are incredible tortoises, very hard to come by in this country, and as I know you will enjoy caring for them, I hope they produce lots of babies for other people to also enjoy them. Don't you want to share the joy of such amazing animals with others? I do. I think you jumped to the wrong conclusion there.

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joeyxadkins said:

I'm sorry, you came off as sarcastic, and I read a few of your posts and never seen you say something that nice. I liked your Miner-all suggestion I used that stuff a lot in the early 2000's. I planned on (If I even get eggs) to trade the babies with other breeders of this locale but since these are huge I might need to sell most of them and advertise them as "Etna Giants" or something like that. I only planned to sell a couple a season to help cover some of the cost of botanical supplements and mulberific delite.

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