Do you think this sulcata is a male or female?

[2tortoises]

I got this tortoise from someone who rescues. It measures 10 1/4" and is 7lbs. We think she is a female....but we are unsure. Her age has been estimated to be over 3 yrs?
Just wanting your opinion. I have another male that is 13 1/4" and he is mounting this sulcata and trying to mate. But no fighting whatsover..so that makes me think she may be a female?
I appreciate any input.
Thanks.

 

[jlyoncc1]

Looks female to me but I am not an expert. I am sure some other people will chime in! Welcome!

 

[Redfoot NERD]

FEMALE!

 

[egyptiandan]

I concur It's a female.

Danny

 

[Crazy1]

Congratulations on your female 2tortoises.
And welcome to the forum

 

[Yvonne G]

There's always someone in the group who has to disagree! And today I'm that someone. At 7lbs, your little sulcata is too young to be able to sex. As they get bigger young males will be so proud of their "stuff" that they will flash at you. Quite easy to tell males when they get to be about 12 to 15lbs. Females are harder to tell.

I had an 80lbs female and a bigger male that were given to me from a gal in Bakersfield who couldn't keep them anymore. The female laid eggs and the male flashed, so I was positive of the sex of both. The anal scutes on the female were in the shape of a "U" and her tail was short and stubby. The anal scutes on the male were in the shape of a "V" and his tail was broader and longer.

I took in two male sulcatas to re-home a couple days ago. Ricky weighs 21lbs and Lucy weighs 19lbs. In the picture, Ricky is on the left. If you look closely, you can see that the tip of Ricky's tail goes all the way over to the whitish spot or spur on the "thigh". Also notice that both boys' anal scutes are in the shape of a "V" although Lucy's is a little softer "V". At first I thought that Lucy was indeed a female, but then I noticed his tail. It's as long as Ricky's.

I apologize for the dirty condition of the two tortoises, I wasn't home yesterday and I haven't had time to soak them and scrub them off.

Yvonne

View attachment 382

 

[Yvonne G]

I should also have said that your new sulcata's tail DOES look like a female tail, however I believe it is still too small to know for sure.

Yvonne

 

[2tortoises]

Thanks for everyone's input.

We tend to think it's a female. We named her Bailey. She doesn't seem to fight with the other one, Basset, (12" male for sure!) and he keeps trying over and over to mate. We've had them together for 3 days and he's been at it much of the day. They have lots of space to roam (sunny AZ). If it is a female- when will he stop trying to mate? Will he keep going at it or will he get tired of it? is there a time peroid? We will take Bailey and put her on the complete other side of the yard and she will go to Basset (almost like a tease) just to get chased by him then he trys to mate again! I'm sure she's too small to breed, nor do we care. The owner thought it may be a male but wasn't sure...she looks like a girl so far.

 

[JustAnja]

Thanks for everyone's input.

We tend to think it's a female. We named her Bailey. She doesn't seem to fight with the other one, Basset, (12" male for sure!) and he keeps trying over and over to mate. We've had them together for 3 days and he's been at it much of the day. They have lots of space to roam (sunny AZ). If it is a female- when will he stop trying to mate? Will he keep going at it or will he get tired of it? is there a time peroid? We will take Bailey and put her on the complete other side of the yard and she will go to Basset (almost like a tease) just to get chased by him then he trys to mate again! I'm sure she's too small to breed, nor do we care. The owner thought it may be a male but wasn't sure...she looks like a girl so far.

Good looking Sulcata, you may have to separate them or he will drive the smaller one crazy.

Oh and just a small note, you might want to swap that water pan out from metal to the large plastic flower pit saucers. That metal will have the water too hot in the AZ sun. Dang I miss AZ. *sniff sniff*

 

[Jentortmom]

Yes, I agree metal pans get warm in the sun...The 99cent only store has some big plastic pans for a buck right now.

 

[Tiffany]

Best way to tell with a smaller sulcata is to put it's butt in warm water....males will let you know. That does look like a girl though, MOST males...even the smaller ones get a dent on the second scute above the tail.

 

[Itort]

Oh, someone else who buys tortoise supplies at the dollar store.

 

[Nobody]

I'm not an expert here as I am still a newbie when it comes to tortoises and Sulcatas but doesn't it look more like a male?The reason for this is that the scutes looks so much more of a 'V" than a "U"?What do you guys think?
Thanks.

 

[TortieGal]

I'm not an expert here as I am still a newbie when it comes to tortoises and Sulcatas but doesn't it look more like a male?The reason for this is that the scutes looks so much more of a 'V" than a "U"?What do you guys think?
Thanks.

That's what I was thinking, looks like a total V to me. Maybe my Herman is a Her!

 

[egyptiandan]

The U and the V shape are more guides when it comes to sexing Sulcata. Really if you want to sex a younger than adult Sulcata, you have to look at the ends of the anal scutes. On a female the ends will be growing in and the sides of the scutes will be convex. On a male the ends will be growing out and the sides will be concave.

Danny

 

[kbaker]

I would like to add to the "too young to sex".

My experience is that. I have a Sulcata (Saturn) that looked female for a long, long time. He had a small tail, shorter gular and flat on the bottom. He never everted during this time. At one point, he changed almost over night. He does evert often now and the biggest thing that gets me is how concaved the bottom of his shell is.

Compared to my other male (Spencer), he looked, walked and talked male at a small size and young age.

Aside from all this, your tortoise does look female right now.

Can we get a picture from the rear of him/her standing??

 

[Tom]

Funny. I know this is an old thread, but I have to say male. Can't tell in the pic, but is there any concavity to the plastron? For years Bert was Big Bertha. Flat on bottom, small head, small gular scutes, small tail and Scooter was constantly mounting and humping "her". One day at about 10 years old I saw "Big Bertha" humping Delores, with his penis everted and everything. I'll get pics of their anal scutes and post.