How do I find out the sex of my marginated tortoise

[peepat]

George is almost a year old and I was wondering what sex he is (if infact is a he). Most sites and threads say its almost impossible to tell until he is the right age and I'd know if I saw anything. Just wondering if there is a way that I would be able to tell before then as I am looking to get another tort but would like to know his sex before getting another.

 

[JoesMum]

You cannot tell the sex of a tortoise until it is near mature size... around 5 inches in your case. They all look female until then. If your are going by how old Petco said it was when you bought it, then it may already be big enough and is not 1 year old. Petco have a bad reputation on here for mis selling wild caught torts as captive bred.

Your tort is a solitary species. In the wild, it roams a large territory, meets up to mate and moves on. It doesn't get lonely or need, or want, company. In captivity, pairs of torts will defend their territories and do their best to see a newcomer off. They fight nasty and the loser could die. Groups of 3 or more may work in large outdoor enclosures, but there are no guarantees.

If you get another tort, you must keep it entirely separately in quarantine for at least 6 months. This is to stop either making the other sick. After that, you have to accept that they may well live separately forever.

 

[peepat]

I've not got George from Petco. The sheet that I have got for him says he was born in 2012 so he is only a year old and barely fits in my palm.

I may just keep him on his own and see how he gets on if that's how they are, and if there is the potential of fighting and one dying I don't think I could bare that happening. I didn't know you had to wait until they were 5ish to find out their sex.

Thank you for your help.