I am not really of fan of the term "always" with any type of animal. I work in the Veterinary field and just found this statement odd. Thanks for your response. I appreciate it![/QUOTE]It is still not a sure sign but there seems to be a slightly better chance at it being female then male. I wouldn't say almost always though. Not from what has been seen.
I heard this through the grape vine and wanted to see what other members thought or have experience. I was informed that "extra scutes almost always means female."...
Thoughts?
I recently hatched 3 Galapagos Tortoises, 1 has an extra scute, the other 2 do not. All incubated at the same temperature.Think its more myth than truth. The whole temp sex thing comes into play. extra scutes are or still is believed to be caused from high incubating temperatures. Higher temprature incubation produces females if your "temp sexing" them. Think this is where and why extra scutes = females. Clearly though its not true, if Yvonne has all males w/ extra scutes.
Kyle
Tortoises normally have 5 vertebral scutes (down the middle of the carapace) and 4 costal scutes on each side of the vertebrals. Any more or less than this is considered abnormal or aberrant scute patterns. They also have 11 or 12 marginals, a nuchal front middle in some species and a supracaudal middle rear (sometimes divided in some species). However, it is the vertebral and costal count that normally determines "abnormal".How do you ID “extra” scutes? Different # side to side?
Thank you for that great info.Tortoises normally have 5 vertebral scutes (down the middle of the carapace) and 4 costal scutes on each side of the vertebrals. Any more or less than this is considered abnormal or aberrant scute patterns. They also have 11 or 12 marginals, a nuchal front middle in some species and a supracaudal middle rear (sometimes divided in some species). However, it is the vertebral and costal count that normally determines "abnormal".