Bath time

[Katherine]

My husband will kill me when he finds out there has been turtles in the tub, but we are having a cold snap tonight and I discovered a fireant nest in one of our leopard night houses this evening so decided just to take the torts who usually sleep in there inside and deal with the ants tomorrow. Gave them a quick bath just to ensure they didn't have any ants on them but it's literally been years since they came inside and I was surprised to learn I can only bathe two at once now. They look so little in an open yard!

Also, just because you cuddle a disgruntled tortoise in a soft pink towel does not mean it will forgive you; angry angry lady right here :

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

They are beautiful! Did you raise these from babies?

 

[Tortus]

How big are they, and do leopards never grow out of that? lol

They look great.

 

[Katherine]

They are beautiful! Did you raise these from babies?

Thank you! And yeah, I raised them from hatchling.

 

[ascott]

Great pics and simply lovely torts....also, the bath tub can be cleared out...

 

[Katherine]

How big are they, and do leopards never grow out of that? lol

The one on the left is 28bs the one on the right is 35lbs. And sadly I think they get MORE disgruntled with age haha.

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Great pics and simply lovely torts....also, the bath tub can be cleared out...

Oooh good then perhaps they can lounge in yours when my husband kicks both them and I out?

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

They are beautiful! Did you raise these from babies?

Thank you! And yeah, I raised them from hatchling.

You did a great job, contact me when you get bored of them.

 

[Baoh]

Very pretty animals. What is the scl of the larger one?

 

[jtrux]

GPP?? Look great. I'm also curious about the length and age.

 

[Yellow Turtle]

They look very beautiful. You do a very good job raising them.

 

[Neal]

They look good. Any ideas on the genetics of them? They have strong South African traits, but they look like there might be something else in them.

 

[Katherine]

Thanks all. They are back outside and it is chilly here at the moment but when it warms up a bit I will measure them for those curious, I don't know offhand.

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They look good. Any ideas on the genetics of them? They have strong South African traits, but they look like there might be something else in them.

They are not related.

The one on the left came from Fife 9-10 years ago and it is anybodies guess but I believe she is a Gpb or some kind of blend where this is the most dominant contribution. Kind of hard to appreciate from a bathtub shot but she has a high dome and a more spherical shell where as I notice the Gpp tend to be lower domed and flare out a bit in the back, if that makes any sense... Anyways all speculation on her but I do not think he was pumping out any Gpp at that time anyways.

The one on the right came from a gentleman (using that term loosley ) with some wc SA leopards in FL again roughly a decade ago and I believe her to be a Gpp. I picked her and some others up as hatchlings and was not concerned with subspecies at the time but reflecting on the limited pictures I have of them from their early days I believe they are full bred SA. It was like nine laptops ago now but maybe I will dig up the pictures on a rainy day to run them by the forum. I have several leopards from him and several from Fife that were acquired in the same transactions as these two and notice differences in personality and shell characteristics between the two groups....Also, I have bred them both at some point and their offspring appear support my prediction. Want to spring for a tortoise genome project?

 

[Neal]

Want to spring for a tortoise genome project?

Believe me, I would love to.

 

[Katherine]

Believe me, I would love to.

When you get that far (if I am not financially exhausted from feeding all these tortoises) count me in

 

[yagyujubei]

A couple of beauties! What do their plastrons look like?

 

[Tom]

Gorgeous girls. So that's what they look like when raised outdoors with some humidity, huh?