Pyramiding in Female Indian Star tortoises

Radmaster

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Hello everyone, I am now starting to breed Indian star tortoises, I have have 4 atm with one confirmed male at 4 inches and the other 3 are 3.5 inches weighing 120-160 grams. The 3 smaller ones has smaller stumpy tails and is overall rounder and wider compared to the confirmed male which makes me believe they are all females. A friend of mine who is an experienced breeder said female Indian stars are usually more pyramided than the males despite living in the same condition/diet, I just want to know is there any truth to that statement? because 2 of the smaller guys (who I suspect are females) are pyramided.

Looking forward to hear from the experts :)
 

Berkeley

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I have never heard that about pyramiding correlating with gender. At 3.5 inches, it would be rather difficult to tell the sex. If you can post images of the four plastrons, it may help to give an idea (but that would be all that it is, an idea).

--Berkeley
 

Ansh

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I have 2 Stars and one of them is more pyramided than the other. He also had a shorter tail than the other (and came from a clutch that was breed to be female). In the last 6 months his tail had grown much longer and he turned out male.

Pyramiding in Stars is complex, but I still believe it has something to do with humidity in the first couple of years. Out of my 2 tortoises, the one that keeps himself buried in the dirt has a smooth shell and the other one is pyramided.
 

Radmaster

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I have 2 Stars and one of them is more pyramided than the other. He also had a shorter tail than the other (and came from a clutch that was breed to be female). In the last 6 months his tail had grown much longer and he turned out male.

Pyramiding in Stars is complex, but I still believe it has something to do with humidity in the first couple of years. Out of my 2 tortoises, the one that keeps himself buried in the dirt has a smooth shell and the other one is pyramided.
Thank you for the insight!
 

mlocke45

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I have 5 adult Sri Lankan stars. Four females and they all have some sort of pyramiding. My male however is the smoothest shelled tortoise I have ever seen.
 

seanang168

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Hello everyone, I am now starting to breed Indian star tortoises, I have have 4 atm with one confirmed male at 4 inches and the other 3 are 3.5 inches weighing 120-160 grams. The 3 smaller ones has smaller stumpy tails and is overall rounder and wider compared to the confirmed male which makes me believe they are all females. A friend of mine who is an experienced breeder said female Indian stars are usually more pyramided than the males despite living in the same condition/diet, I just want to know is there any truth to that statement? because 2 of the smaller guys (who I suspect are females) are pyramided.

Looking forward to hear from the experts :)
You have a great body Rad!
 

Neal

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Hello everyone, I am now starting to breed Indian star tortoises, I have have 4 atm with one confirmed male at 4 inches and the other 3 are 3.5 inches weighing 120-160 grams. The 3 smaller ones has smaller stumpy tails and is overall rounder and wider compared to the confirmed male which makes me believe they are all females. A friend of mine who is an experienced breeder said female Indian stars are usually more pyramided than the males despite living in the same condition/diet, I just want to know is there any truth to that statement? because 2 of the smaller guys (who I suspect are females) are pyramided.

Looking forward to hear from the experts :)

I've never heard of this claim among other Indian Star breeders. There is some variation, just as with leopard tortoises, where some will pyramid more than others despite being raised in the same conditions, but that would occur regardless of sex.

Perhaps there is some truth to your friend's statement though. Being that females are generally larger than males, perhaps the pyramiding is more pronounced in the larger females than the smaller males.
 

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