Greek Tort Shell Formation

Yvonne G

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Looks ok to me. Are you worried about the part above the tail and how it curls under? That's normal for males.
 

Yossarian

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Looks ok to me. Are you worried about the part above the tail and how it curls under? That's normal for males.


Hi, thanks Yvonne, yes I was worried about the tail scute curling so dramatically. Read something about MBD causing those rear scutes to curl but it was unclear and I couldn’t find photos. She has a good varied diet and gets plenty of UV, calcium, and vit D.

Our paperwork says it’s a girl though, Is that just wrong or does that change things?

Edit: have had a look at characteristics of males and females and this one has a few signs might be Male, but it is pretty large for a Greek.

46C1AF14-E3CA-4770-9A5C-2E7BA48AC36B.jpeg F2E9EC58-CACA-4E72-8C7B-911816E63A84.jpeg
 
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Yvonne G

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@Markw84 mentioned something a while ago about the way that scute curling under is for breeding purposes. I don't remember his exact words.

It sure looks like a male to me.
 

Markw84

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@Markw84 mentioned something a while ago about the way that scute curling under is for breeding purposes. I don't remember his exact words.

It sure looks like a male to me.
The rear scute - supracaudal scute - is curled under like that in most male tortoises. It allows them to rest on that scute and rear portion of their shell while mating and have the penis still have room and free to move.

That is a male!
 

Yossarian

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The rear scute - supracaudal scute - is curled under like that in most male tortoises. It allows them to rest on that scute and rear portion of their shell while mating and have the penis still have room and free to move.

That is a male!


Thanks @Markw84 ! Good to know!
 

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