Little Kleins

[tortadise]

Darling. Super awesome cute.
But HELP. Are these Kleinmann? as in Egyptians? as in Testudo kleinmanni? The other African tortoises category is confusing me.
Love them. Congrats!!!!

Yep these are testudo kleinmanni(Egyptian tortoises) I put them in other African tortoises because they are African. However I did move it to Mediterranean Egyptian section for ease of members.

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What are these colors on their shells ?

That's from the breeder. Used for a marking the different bloodlines. Its a code system. So let's use male 1 and female 2 as an example. They are pink blue. Well male 2 female 2 could be just pink.

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

I thought they were sullies...what are they?

Sent from my ZTE N9120 using TortForum mobile app

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Wow they are very nice

Sent from my ZTE N9120 using TortForum mobile app

 

[tortadise]

Egyptian tortoises.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Okay, Kelly. Education time por favor please.

Are these particular Little Kleins/Egyptians from further south of the Middle East - Mediterranean range, and more towards the Sudan area/range? Which if they are, no wonder they are endangered, with big bubba Sudanese sulcatas stepping on them perhaps.

I am so fascinated by the whole native land origins of our pets. Hard to believe these tiny bitty things can be part of that big harsh desert. Kinda surprised they did not become extinct long ago.

Cute as a bug! Again, congrats! : )

 

[tortadise]

Okay, Kelly. Education time por favor please.

Are these particular Little Kleins/Egyptians from further south of the Middle East - Mediterranean range, and more towards the Sudan area/range? Which if they are, no wonder they are endangered, with big bubba Sudanese sulcatas stepping on them perhaps.

I am so fascinated by the whole native land origins of our pets. Hard to believe these tiny bitty things can be part of that big harsh desert. Kinda surprised they did not become extinct long ago.

Cute as a bug! Again, congrats! : )

Nope these are typical Egyptians. They are only found in Israel,Libya, and Egypt. However the Egyptian population is last known as "extinct in the wild" and very close to being the same in Libya, Israel they are very few and far between as well. They live on the coastal regions in these nations in dry, shrubbery. They can be found no so far from the coast, so No where near Sudan, Niger, Algeria, or Chad. They only purge into Libya about half way on the coast in that nation, all of Egypt but they are almost non existent their, and then slowly thin out population into Israel. The biggest issue is poaching with these guys. Black market and illegal export has ruined the natural numbers. the wild specimens in captivity typically don't fare well. I had many WC adults years back and they were time bombs of death. Some would last years some would die within weeks. Sad. These are a very very endangered species, yet they are not on the ESA(Endangered Species Act). Most zoos have them but contribute little to captive breeding of the species. Hope all the breeders(few out their) keep strong in doing what they do with this species.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Thanks for this excellent education Kelly. All hail the breeders of this darling little species. With this forum and the collective knowledge, hopefully newbies today will become successful keeper/breeders of some of these endangered tortoises tomorrow! : )

 

[Hybrid]

Hello Tortadise,

Do you happened to know the maximum size of the Egyptian Tortoise may reach?

 

[tortoiseowner101]

Do the colors go out ?

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Sorry I did not understand the markings. Could you explain it one more time ?

 

[tortadise]

Yes the colors go away. Its just to mark each different bloodline, so each one is known and marked differently that came from unrelated parents.


Males get 5-5 1/2" females 6-6 1/2"

 

[Hybrid]

Yes the colors go away. Its just to mark each different bloodline, so each one is known and marked differently that came from unrelated parents.


Males get 5-5 1/2" females 6-6 1/2"

Just to share, this is my current size

Already 10.5 CM.

I always wonder how old is he, precisely....

 

[tortadise]

Well if its a male he is almost full grown for sure. But will get a bit bigger.no way to tell for sure. Is he a wild catch specimen? I'd say at least 5 years old or so.

 

[Hybrid]

Based on his "conservativeness" attitude, I would say its a wild catch.

It is EXTREMELY hard to find a female partner for him for breeding purpose

 

[tortadise]

Well snap a pic of his plastron (underside) and tail and we can tell you what it is. Females and Males are hard to find here too. They are getting rarer and rarer, even though they are already pretty rare.

 

[Hybrid]

How can we know based on the plastron either he is wild catch or captive breed?

 

[tortadise]

Looks male. But I cant really tell where the tail ends.

 

[Hybrid]

The tail ends on the right side in the picture.

 

[KenS]

These guys are just wonderful. So tiny. Split scutes makes them even more unique of a rare tortoise.




Tearin up the hibiscus

Kelly,
Very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tortadise]

Hybrid can you get a close up shot of its tail. Still hard to be certain for me

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Nevermind I figured how to zoom in. Definitely a boy you for their.

 

[Hybrid]

Hybrid can you get a close up shot of its tail. Still hard to be certain for me

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Nevermind I figured how to zoom in. Definitely a boy you for their.

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Hey thanks for your verification. Exactly like I thought, a male!

How hard to let them mating and lay eggs, if I manage to find him a partner?

 

[tortadise]

Well. Males are typically very eager to mate. Yours at that size will have no issues breeding and breeding. You just need to make sure you can have 2 enclosures or one very large one to offer the opportunity of giving the female a break from the male. Sometimes the males can be very overly persistent and stress the female. In addition to that. You need a nesting area for the female if they are being kept inside, for her to lay eggs.