Kang and Rue

[CarolM]

Did you get yourself a breed mixed with Sulcata by any chance? [emoji23]

Whahaha. Maybe Kang will be one of the few that grow quite big. There are one or two who are larger than most of the breed. Either that or you are right and he had Sulcata genes somewhere far back in his ancestry which is coming out now.

 

[CarolM]

I haven't posted for a while but here is a quick photo of the gang in hatch order.
Rue is first and almost a whole year older than the other three. Then comes Kang, Clark and lastly Harry. Notice how much bigger Kang is. He is my little giant. Well in comparison to the other three he is a giant.

 

[EllieMay]

I haven't posted for a while but here is a quick photo of the gang in hatch order.
Rue is first and almost a whole year older than the other three. Then comes Kang, Clark and lastly Harry. Notice how much bigger Kang is. He is my little giant. Well in comparison to the other three he is a giant. View attachment 267057

That are just absolutely gorgeous!!!

 

[CarolM]

That are just absolutely gorgeous!!!

 

[Kristoff]

I haven't posted for a while but here is a quick photo of the gang in hatch order.
Rue is first and almost a whole year older than the other three. Then comes Kang, Clark and lastly Harry. Notice how much bigger Kang is. He is my little giant. Well in comparison to the other three he is a giant. View attachment 267057

How beautiful they are! Including King Kang! [emoji23]

 

[CarolM]

How beautiful they are! Including King Kang! [emoji23]

Thank you Lena.

 

[CarolM]

Since i put leaves into their Enclosure Rue loves hiding in them. I have also put my camera inside the enclosure. The picture is now much better. Also check out Kang's tail. I am definitely leaning towards male more and more. [emoji6] And some photos of Clark and Harry as well. As we cannot play favoritism it might hurt their feelings.

 

[CarolM]

I just cannot resist taking a pic or two more. Especially of Kang's tail.

 

[CarolM]

Kang is now 1 year and 6 days old and if I am not mistaken he is definitely male. My original scale stopped working and when I bought a new one it seems that it the original one was also giving me the incorrect weight.
Kang is now 311g and 13cm from the back to front on his plastron. I am not sure but isn't he a bit young to be showing his stuff already?

 

[Kristoff]

Kang is now 1 year and 6 days old and if I am not mistaken he is definitely male. My original scale stopped working and when I bought a new one it seems that it the original one was also giving me the incorrect weight.
Kang is now 311g and 13cm from the back to front on his plastron. I am not sure but isn't he a bit young to be showing his stuff already?View attachment 268607View attachment 268608

Naughty boy! [emoji23][emoji217][emoji173]️

 

[CarolM]

I am hoping that the more experienced can advise what I need to do now? I am not prepared for him to be so mature yet. Do I need to separate him from the other three, Can he go outside permanently? How do I treat him. Sjoe it is like having a teenager and being totally unprepared.

 

[CarolM]

Naughty boy! [emoji23][emoji217][emoji173]️

He stayed in the water bowl for the whole night. I am not sure but it must have felt better in the water rather than out the water.

 

[CarolM]

I am hoping that the more experienced can advise what I need to do now? I am not prepared for him to be so mature yet. Do I need to separate him from the other three, Can he go outside permanently? How do I treat him. Sjoe it is like having a teenager and being totally unprepared.

@Markw84, @Sterant , @Tom , @kingsley, @HermanniChris, - Some advise is needed please. Is it normal for Kang to have matured so early and what do I do now? Can I leave him in the enclosure with the other three or not?

 

[Sterant]

Carol - Certainly no harm in separating him from the others - I would always recommend that anyway. Just based on a quick glance of the pictures you sent, it does look like a male. Females can show genitalia that could be misidentified as male, but the tail looks like a male. It also looks like (to me) healthy tissue so I don't think it's a prolapse indicating some internal issue. It probably just slipped out while he was peeing in the water. I don't think there is any real need to do anything about this - just continue to observe. The literature, and my one experience with a captive bred male would indicate that they could be sexually mature as early as 5 years old in captivity, but more likely 6 or 7.

 

[CarolM]

Carol - Certainly no harm in separating him from the others - I would always recommend that anyway. Just based on a quick glance of the pictures you sent, it does look like a male. Females can show genitalia that could be misidentified as male, but the tail looks like a male. It also looks like (to me) healthy tissue so I don't think it's a prolapse indicating some internal issue. It probably just slipped out while he was peeing in the water. I don't think there is any real need to do anything about this - just continue to observe. The literature, and my one experience with a captive bred male would indicate that they could be sexually mature as early as 5 years old in captivity, but more likely 6 or 7.

Thank you so much Dan, thank goodness I have you guys to ask. I thought that it was very strange that he was already showing that he was male and far too early. Honestly though the thought had not even crossed my mind that he might have a prolapse. I will most definitely keep an eye on him and see how he is. Once again I really appreciate the help and advise.

 

[CarolM]

Carol - Certainly no harm in separating him from the others - I would always recommend that anyway. Just based on a quick glance of the pictures you sent, it does look like a male. Females can show genitalia that could be misidentified as male, but the tail looks like a male. It also looks like (to me) healthy tissue so I don't think it's a prolapse indicating some internal issue. It probably just slipped out while he was peeing in the water. I don't think there is any real need to do anything about this - just continue to observe. The literature, and my one experience with a captive bred male would indicate that they could be sexually mature as early as 5 years old in captivity, but more likely 6 or 7.

Just a quick question, Just because he is showing that he is male does not necessarily indicate that he is sexually mature right? I am just being lucky in that I know what he is quite early on.

 

[Sterant]

Just a quick question, Just because he is showing that he is male does not necessarily indicate that he is sexually mature right? I am just being lucky in that I know what he is quite early on.

Right - not mature yet, but it is nice to know it is likely a male. If you ever see him do it again and can get better pictures that would be good. Check out my thread in the radiated tortoise section about female genitalia. Titled "Dude looks like a lady".

 

[Tom]

Looks male to me too.

Everything I know about this species, which is admittedly not much, is that they are best housed alone. I saw large groups in large yards while in SA, but who knows how that is really working out?

The other experience I can draw from is from my other SA species: My leopards. The males were very precocious and began humping and fighting ar 12-18 months old, even though they were a long way off from maturity and being able to reproduce. By16-18 months old, I had to separate all the males from the females, so the females could grow up in peace. Shortly after 18 months, I had to separate all the males into individual enclosures. That was a pain. I went from maintaining one large enclosure with a bunch of young tortoises to having to maintain whole bunch of enclosures within the space of a few months. In my SA leopards, the females have always gotten along and been able to live together peacefully. Not the males. Not at all. They are HYPER aggressive like those little Testudo super males that you occasionally see, only they are 20" long and weigh 50 pounds.

My plan for Chersina, based on all I've read, is to house them all individually. Both sexes.

 

[CarolM]

Right - not mature yet, but it is nice to know it is likely a male. If you ever see him do it again and can get better pictures that would be good. Check out my thread in the radiated tortoise section about female genitalia. Titled "Dude looks like a lady".

Once I am home I will go and have a look.

 

[CarolM]

Looks male to me too.

Everything I know about this species, which is admittedly not much, is that they are best housed alone. I saw large groups in large yards while in SA, but who knows how that is really working out?

The other experience I can draw from is from my other SA species: My leopards. The males were very precocious and began humping and fighting ar 12-18 months old, even though they were a long way off from maturity and being able to reproduce. By16-18 months old, I had to separate all the males from the females, so the females could grow up in peace. Shortly after 18 months, I had to separate all the males into individual enclosures. That was a pain. I went from maintaining one large enclosure with a bunch of young tortoises to having to maintain whole bunch of enclosures within the space of a few months. In my SA leopards, the females have always gotten along and been able to live together peacefully. Not the males. Not at all. They are HYPER aggressive like those little Testudo super males that you occasionally see, only they are 20" long and weigh 50 pounds.

My plan for Chersina, based on all I've read, is to house them all individually. Both sexes.

The plan is to house the males separate. However I do not have that much space and will probably have to re -home some of them so that there are no issues. But I was hoping for a longer period in which I could leave them all together before I had to start making plans. Oh well that is life. Just got to come up with a viable plan that will work. Either that Or I will need to build another enclosure for him. Maybe I can build a heated house in the outside enclosure for him. Then he can go outside from now on. Hmmm, better put the thinking cap on.