Hi. At what age do Hatchlings, change to Sub Adults and then Adults. Thank you in advance.
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- Thread starter MysticCaribou
- Start date
It's not about age with tortoises; it's about size.
Having said that, I don't know the measurements with RFs so I can't help. Sorry.
Having said that, I don't know the measurements with RFs so I can't help. Sorry.
What size would sub adult be? And what comes after hatchling?
My previous post was not very informative. All tortoises grow at different rates but I'd ballpark a subadult classification ranging from 5-7 years old at 5-9 inch SCL for redfoots?
I encourage people to disagree with my above statement because it's totally bogus!!! It seems there is much subjectivity of sexing redfoots from 5-9" SCL. I was convinced one of my females was a male based on her anal scute morphology and ambiguously sized tail (8-9" SCL, 5.5 years old) and next thing I knew she was digging holes and laying eggs. I used Vinke & Vetter, Mike Pingleton's book, and the sexing information on here from Allegra and YvonneG. I've repeatedly polled all you awesome people on here too and there is never unanimous agreement on the sex of all four of my tortoises (or other people's similar threads). Trying to classify a true subadult is tough until they start flashing you or laying eggs... at which point they are ready to breed and could be considered an adult!
Just some thoughts on my part, I hope others with greater experience will chime in.
I encourage people to disagree with my above statement because it's totally bogus!!! It seems there is much subjectivity of sexing redfoots from 5-9" SCL. I was convinced one of my females was a male based on her anal scute morphology and ambiguously sized tail (8-9" SCL, 5.5 years old) and next thing I knew she was digging holes and laying eggs. I used Vinke & Vetter, Mike Pingleton's book, and the sexing information on here from Allegra and YvonneG. I've repeatedly polled all you awesome people on here too and there is never unanimous agreement on the sex of all four of my tortoises (or other people's similar threads). Trying to classify a true subadult is tough until they start flashing you or laying eggs... at which point they are ready to breed and could be considered an adult!
Just some thoughts on my part, I hope others with greater experience will chime in.
Thank you very much!
I've asked this question before and it seems to be a very grey area.
In my own mind I had settled on
A hatchling is until the egg tooth has gone.
A juvenile is without egg tooth and up to when they start showing an interest in sexual activity.
A sub adult is during the sexual activity interest period but still immature.
An adult is a fully mature proven Tortoise.
I'm easy on what ever the boundaries are, but wish we could set it out so we are all on the same page.
In my own mind I had settled on
A hatchling is until the egg tooth has gone.
A juvenile is without egg tooth and up to when they start showing an interest in sexual activity.
A sub adult is during the sexual activity interest period but still immature.
An adult is a fully mature proven Tortoise.
I'm easy on what ever the boundaries are, but wish we could set it out so we are all on the same page.
There's a problem with my thought though, it's hard to tell if a female is interested in sexual activity or its the male forcing himself up on her.
I know I have a female as the breeder raises the temps while the eggs are incubating. She is 5 months, so would be a juvenile. How do you tell they are sexually mature if it's a sole female?
Dont know, we need some higher class of tort experts to chime in.
1 of @Redstrike females laid eggs even though there was no mature male. Is that the proof of sub-adult.
You know you should have a female... there are never any guarantees
