Hi everyone, introduction and advice

[egyptiandan]

Somebody called I didn't know I was sexing Stu
It would be nice to know how big Stu is (Straight Carapace Length, SCL)
but it looks like Stu is a female to me.

Danny

 

[tortoisenerd]

hehehehe

 

[Carina and Stu]

Oh god! Poor Stuie! What on earth will I call him? He'll still be called Stu. I mean she. If indeed that's who he turns out to be! I guess there's always been a bit of a hoo-ha over what his sex actually is because he is so young. I got him when he was only 6 months old and he was the size of my palm! (and my palms are quite small). But since, a vet who specializes in reptiles said he thinks Stu is a boy. I guess only time will tell, but here are his measurements anyway...

Length of plastron = 8.6cm
Length of carapace = 11.5cm
Weight = 167g
JR = 0.263 (I know that's a little over the ideal limit but he's always been pretty big. It's not dangerous and I keep an eye on all of this every month. He goes on a diet if I find he's over indulged! Piggy)

So, if anyone can shed a bit of light on this it'd be much appreciated! I must admit though I'm finding it a little hard adjusting to my little boy changing sex ha ha! Just adds to his mystery and humour!! He already thinks he's a monkey, climbing everything. I can see how your tortoise, Chase, has a brilliant tail compared to Stu's. Or Stuina's.

Take car all and I look forward to your opinions!

Caj and Stu/ina

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By the way, Dawna, how is Doris? Hope she's doing well.

The long strip along the back is ideal. Better than a spot light UV. The spot light UV emits just a ball of UV rays around the bulb, and so gets weaker further away from the bulb. The strip UV enables a more even distribution of UV rays along the length of the viv, so the reptile benefiting from it can get the essential UV rays wherever s/he is. I'm contemplating moving my light further up the wall a little though, because I think the big log one the left hand side may be blocking some rays...

Caj