- Joined
- Dec 19, 2015
- Messages
- 122
Hi.
Otis is a female tortoise; her egg batch was incubated to be so (slightly higher/colder incubation temperature, I can never remember which ). I know there's probably a chance she is male, but it's a very small chance. I don't know the scientifics but from the incubation, I can say I think she is female and I am fairly sure she is.
She is a year and a bit, and recently she has been displaying behaviour where she head butts certain objects. She is not doing so to get them out of the way (they are usually small and have a clear route around them), merely sniffing them out and head butting. She does it a few times then moves on unfazed.
I did a Google search and it confirmed my suspicion that this was male behaviour, usually shown for dominance or to mate. I found little stories about females, except when they were ready to lay (gravid) which is impossible in this case as Otis is so young and hasn't ever interacted with a male tortoise.
So - my main questions. Could Otis be male (despite the incubation to be female), or is this just behaviour that some females occasionally have? Do you have similar stories with female torts?
I'd love her either way (male or female) but it would take some getting used to
Thanks,
Olivia
*note
In hurriedness to post this, I just chose Tortoise Discussion, I don't know if there's a better fitting forum but feel free to, er, move it for me
Otis is a female tortoise; her egg batch was incubated to be so (slightly higher/colder incubation temperature, I can never remember which ). I know there's probably a chance she is male, but it's a very small chance. I don't know the scientifics but from the incubation, I can say I think she is female and I am fairly sure she is.
She is a year and a bit, and recently she has been displaying behaviour where she head butts certain objects. She is not doing so to get them out of the way (they are usually small and have a clear route around them), merely sniffing them out and head butting. She does it a few times then moves on unfazed.
I did a Google search and it confirmed my suspicion that this was male behaviour, usually shown for dominance or to mate. I found little stories about females, except when they were ready to lay (gravid) which is impossible in this case as Otis is so young and hasn't ever interacted with a male tortoise.
So - my main questions. Could Otis be male (despite the incubation to be female), or is this just behaviour that some females occasionally have? Do you have similar stories with female torts?
I'd love her either way (male or female) but it would take some getting used to
Thanks,
Olivia
*note
In hurriedness to post this, I just chose Tortoise Discussion, I don't know if there's a better fitting forum but feel free to, er, move it for me