how to know when females are ready to mate?

[SGT Fish]

i was wondering how you know a female is ready to mate if it is not kept with a male. Do they start laying infertile eggs here and there? do you wait until they start digging nests? or do you just assume they are mature enough at a certain age/size and introduce them to a male then?

Im just curious really. I still dont know if my 8yr old, 12 inch recue "Frank" is a male or female, but I fgure if Frank is a female I know of multiple keepers with adult males that frank could breed with.

thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

What species of tortoise is Frank? For example, female sulcatas mature more slowly than sulcata males do. So the male might show off his male parts, and try breeding everything in his yard, but a female the same size won't be ready to breed until she gets quite a bit bigger than that.

 

[SGT Fish]

sorry, Frank is a Sulcata. I havent seen him/her show any signs of being either male or female. Flat plastron, V-shaped scutes, no humping, no eggs.

I'm thinking Frank may be a girl, but I'm sure it would take some time to mature more. Frank's been going through a growth spurt since I took him/her in, so im kinda curious as to when she/he would be ready to try to breed.

thanks

 

[MagicGus]

Male or Female?
Sexing sulcatas with a straight carapace length less than 12 inches can be difficult. Males eventually develop slightly concave plastrons and have longer, thicker tails than females. However, female sulcatas have comparatively longer tails than females of other tortoise species.

As adults, males get larger than females and have more pronounced gulars, a more curved supracaudal (center rear scute of the carapace over the tail), and a larger notch between the anal scutes of the plastron. The front marginals of older tortoises tend to curve upward.

 

[Tank'sMom]

Got pics???

 

[MagicGus]

SGT Fish this is for you:http://www.amazonreptilecenter.com/sulcatasex.html

 

[MagicGus]

Got pics???

And it has pics!!!