Cherryhead sexing. . . . I know. . . .

[Mike05]

I know. Don't ya love these threads. I have asked in the past and I have always gotten numerous responses of I have a male and female or two males or two females. Next month I would have had them for 3 years. Their carapace is about 8 1/2 inches. Once one comes up for sale that I can find I would definitely like to get my hands on a female or two. Thanks for any input ya'll may give.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Rough guess, male.

 

[MysticCaribou]

I'm thinking male too.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

First one female -- second one male.. maybe - where's the concavity of the plastron ? At 8.5" SCL there should be reasonable concavity developing.
Brazilians are always the most confusing for most!

 

[Mike05]

Yeah neither have concavity. I would have figured I would see a male showing himself during soaks. But nothing. I had one cherryhead actually smaller than these two that every soak he showed he was a male. Neither one of these have showed any thing. So I've been kinda stumped. Thank you for the replies so far.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

@Mike05 - I hate to be the bad guy here.. but my conscience doesn't allow me to say nothing.

I must hold accountable the person that represented those redfoots as Brazilians... not only no concavity... where is the plastron marbling??? After over 20 years of working with most .carbonaria locales .. I am yet to see a Brazilian [ even half their size ] that DID NOT have a marbled plastron. I'm also guessing those girls have more Bolivian blood in them than Brazilian.

Also.. at 8.5" SCL -- there should be at least some sign of "suppressed" waist on males! Ignore the anal scutes.

Can we get a face and top of head shot of both of them please?

 

[Redfoot NERD]

From a well-respected Brazilian breeder - raised from hatchlings .

That's a 6" ruler -

 

[Mike05]

Funny you say that. The guy that sold them to me 3 years ago started selling his cherry heads as possible Bolivian or Brazilian. Possibly what he has had all along yet when I look back at his posts a lot of the redfoots he has sold had marbling on the bottom but not all. I'll get you pictures of the head and top of the carapace in the morning. All I have currently are older pictures that are close up. Thanks.

 

[Mike05]

Here are some photos of their heads and top of their shell. Their currently inside until later today or tomorrow. Has been around 50 degrees at night. So do Bolivans keep their red heads? I thought their heads turned yellow also.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

Where to start @Mike05 --- first of all.. any thing said or will be said is only to hopefully educate... and NOT to be considered boastful or egotistical - very little info came from 'books' .. but from hands-on experience personally and/or info from OLD breeder's and keepers.. few if any are a part of this forum! My best redfoot tortoise friend has been breeding redfoot tortoises since early 1980's and has traveled to virtually every known region.. mainly to import --- enough of that.

Those pics and what you have said speak volumes .. thank you. There are a number of things that 'stand out' - [ the term "Cherryhead" was a marketing term used when the very first shipment of redfoot tortoises came into Miami .. with tortoises from Brazil. Cherryhead tortoises are ONLY redfoot tortoises from Brazil and not a separate species of tortoise! ]

Brazilian redfoots have a pronounced "bulbous" nose -



Brazilians seldom have all the"dots and broken pattern".. and although many have 'orange/yellow' on their head.. most are 'rose to scarlet red'.



As far as Bolivians - [ search posts from the past ] - they were imported ONE TIME in 1982. They all had "Yellow-Peach" colors that virtually covered their heads.. with prominent 'large' blotches of yellow in each individual scute!

PLUS have never seen redfoots change colors ... have seen many Brazilians fade considerably at a younger age - as opposed to any other locale.

Old 'original' female -



Young ( 11" SCL ) male -



Mike there was one other shipment of Bolivians that did come in.. in 2000. Most had a much redder color to their heads [ and virtually solid dark plastrons.. like yours ].

Bottom line --- it appears that your breeder did in fact allow "inter-breeding" to go on -- unfortunately too common these days.

Again not trying to piggy-back your post............

 

[Mike05]

I appreciate the info. I have followed a few of your posts and have seen ya post on Faunaclassifieds a number of times. Yeah I was aware of the term cherryhead just being a name. Why I was referring to the seller as having Bolivian or Brazilian. I might have learned that info from one of your posts actually. Any ways thanks again for the info.