My Baby’s Gender

[sigmatheratops]

So I have 2 baby desert tortoises, either Mojave or Sonoran, maybe some other desert species, I don’t know. Story behind this is I went to Mexico to visit my uncle who has adult tortoises. They laid eggs at one of his houses, around 50 miles away, went to the house we were visiting him at and brought 3. He told me he would give me one or two, however many I wanted. Say we were leaving, around 4:00 am, he told me to pick 2 tortoises. (Now I had already been researching these baby’s for awhile and knew how to care for them.) I told him I only wanted one because I wanted him to keep his own babies (no idea they couldn’t be kept in pairs). He insisted and so I took 2. Here are some pictures of them: (Baby Number 1)View attachment 376881View attachment 376882View attachment 376883View attachment 376884
Baby Number 2:
View attachment 376885View attachment 376886
Sorry for the big story, figured it would help in some way. Also, the place there were born is a very hot plays, probably reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit on average during the summer. I actually have no idea on when they were born, and since I’m thinking they were born on April or May since that’s when they were both 2 inches (still are around 2 inches). Since they’re still babies, I’m not expecting any solid results, but since there are a lot of experts here maybe I could get a solid prediction or answer. I have no idea on what to trust anymore so I just came here, but one thing I do know is that tortoises tend be be females when there’s higher temperatures.
The reason I even want to know the gender is to separate them or to get another, more towards the future. If one is male or both are males, I’ll have to separate them but if they’re females I can get another one (correct me if I’m wrong). I’ll check replies tomorrow when I get back from school if you guys need any better photos. (I might also add stuff that I could’ve forgotten)

 

[sigmatheratops]

So I have 2 baby desert tortoises, either Mojave or Sonoran, maybe some other desert species, I don’t know. Story behind this is I went to Mexico to visit my uncle who has adult tortoises. They laid eggs at one of his houses, around 50 miles away, went to the house we were visiting him at and brought 3. He told me he would give me one or two, however many I wanted. Say we were leaving, around 4:00 am, he told me to pick 2 tortoises. (Now I had already been researching these baby’s for awhile and knew how to care for them.) I told him I only wanted one because I wanted him to keep his own babies (no idea they couldn’t be kept in pairs). He insisted and so I took 2. Here are some pictures of them: (Baby Number 1)View attachment 376881View attachment 376882View attachment 376883View attachment 376884
Baby Number 2:
View attachment 376885View attachment 376886View attachment 376887
Sorry for the big story, figured it would help in some way. Also, the place there were born is a very hot plays, probably reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit on average during the summer. I actually have no idea on when they were born, and since I’m thinking they were born on April or May since that’s when they were both 2 inches (still are around 2 inches). Since they’re still babies, I’m not expecting any solid results, but since there are a lot of experts here maybe I could get a solid prediction or answer. I have no idea on what to trust anymore so I just came here, but one thing I do know is that tortoises tend be be females when there’s higher temperatures.
The reason I even want to know the gender is to separate them or to get another, more towards the future. If one is male or both are males, I’ll have to separate them but if they’re females I can get another one (correct me if I’m wrong). I’ll check replies tomorrow when I get back from school if you guys need any better photos. (I might also add stuff that I could’ve forgotten)

I just realized you guys can’t see ANY of the photos so I’ll re-add them here:

Baby Number 1:
Baby Number 2:

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

So I have 2 baby desert tortoises, either Mojave or Sonoran, maybe some other desert species, I don’t know. Story behind this is I went to Mexico to visit my uncle who has adult tortoises. They laid eggs at one of his houses, around 50 miles away, went to the house we were visiting him at and brought 3. He told me he would give me one or two, however many I wanted. Say we were leaving, around 4:00 am, he told me to pick 2 tortoises. (Now I had already been researching these baby’s for awhile and knew how to care for them.) I told him I only wanted one because I wanted him to keep his own babies (no idea they couldn’t be kept in pairs). He insisted and so I took 2. Here are some pictures of them: (Baby Number 1)View attachment 376881View attachment 376882View attachment 376883View attachment 376884
Baby Number 2:
View attachment 376885View attachment 376886View attachment 376887
Sorry for the big story, figured it would help in some way. Also, the place there were born is a very hot plays, probably reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit on average during the summer. I actually have no idea on when they were born, and since I’m thinking they were born on April or May since that’s when they were both 2 inches (still are around 2 inches). Since they’re still babies, I’m not expecting any solid results, but since there are a lot of experts here maybe I could get a solid prediction or answer. I have no idea on what to trust anymore so I just came here, but one thing I do know is that tortoises tend be be females when there’s higher temperatures.
The reason I even want to know the gender is to separate them or to get another, more towards the future. If one is male or both are males, I’ll have to separate them but if they’re females I can get another one (correct me if I’m wrong). I’ll check replies tomorrow when I get back from school if you guys need any better photos. (I might also add stuff that I could’ve forgotten)

Hello!
At this age it's impossible to tell gender ("sex" is more accurate term for this). All hatchlings are born with female traits and in 3-7 years (depending on growth rate and conditions) some develop male characteristics.

 

[wellington]

I second above post
They do need to be house as single tortoises, never pairs
There seems to be some white coloring on the first tortoise both on top shell and bottom. This may need some attention.
@Yvonne G or @Tom can confirm.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! Cute babies! I second what wellington says, don’t house them together as a pair

 

[sigmatheratops]

I second above post
They do need to be house as single tortoises, never pairs
There seems to be some white coloring on the first tortoise both on top shell and bottom. This may need some attention.
@Yvonne G or @Tom can confirm.

what would the white coloring idicate? i thought it was because i ad freshly bathed them, but hes all dry adn its still there. hes been changing color a bit, from more yellow to brownish.

 

[wellington]

I'm not sure. You could try using some over the counter antifungal cream like you would use for athletes foot and see if that takes care of it. Do it daily after their soak.
Do you have them on dry substrate but a high humidity?

 

[sigmatheratops]

I'm not sure. You could try using some over the counter antifungal cream like you would use for athletes foot and see if that takes care of it. Do it daily after their soak.
Do you have them on dry substrate but a high humidity?

Moist substrate and the humidity is 50-60%

 

[sigmatheratops]

Moist substrate and the humidity is 50-60%

At night is when I wet the substrate so it goes up to around 70-80. I do this because I researched how they are in the wild and apparently they hideout in moist burrows

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

what would the white coloring idicate? i thought it was because i ad freshly bathed them, but hes all dry adn its still there. hes been changing color a bit, from more yellow to brownish.

Looks like hard water stains.

 

[sigmatheratops]

Looks like hard water stains.

should I get filtered water to bathe them instead? apparently my city’s water isn’t very good, lots of chlorine and metals

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

should I get filtered water to bathe them instead? apparently my city’s water isn’t very good, lots of chlorine and metals

If you have highly chlorinated water then it's better to use filtered or rain water for bathing (they drink water when soaking).

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

all city water is chlorinated. Ive always soaked my torts in tap water and never had a problem.