Leopard Tortoise female or male?

wellington

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Need to see the second pic without the tape measure in the way. The size of them doesn't say whether male or female. We need to see the tail and the scutes around the tail.
 

teresaf

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The tail says female but it looks like the plastron is somewhat concave which says youmg male. my vote is a female though. can we see a side view of the plastron?
 

Tom

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If I had to guess, I would say its an immature female.
 

cmacusa3

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I'm to understand that she is 8 years old. Is that still considered immature?
I would say it probably depends on her size. I've talked with several that have had leopards laying eggs at 4-5 years of age but size is the biggest factor.
 

Tom

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I'm to understand that she is 8 years old. Is that still considered immature?

They all grow at different rates for a wide variety of reasons. Maturity is determined by size, not age.

Further complicating the matter is that we don't know the genetics of this particular tortoise. In some parts of the range the leopard tortoise tops out at 10". In other parts of the range, the same species can reach 32" when fully grown. Most of the captive leopards here in the us are a mix of two or more variants.

If this one is not mature, she should be getting close. By 8 years and 11+ inches the anal scutes should really be taking shape in one direction or the other, but they aren't yet for some reason.
 

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