Queenie, the Hermanni...

[Maggie Cummings]

Every time I post a thread on TFO, it's about Bob. But I do have other tortoises, so I thought I would show you one. Queenie is 1/2 Hermanni and 1/2 Boettgeri. I bought her from someone here on TFO with the promise that because she is a mix, I would never breed her. She lives in a tort table in Bob's shed. They never see each other but it is a good place for her. She's a super easy keeper. Over the winter I didn't notice that her beak had grown too long, so I am working on it a little bit at a time filing away, and now she's going outside so I am hoping the grasses and weeds she'll pull up will grind away at her beak too.
Her dorsal scutes are not even at the end so the Vet said her spine is crooked and that makes her walk on the wrong part of her foot. Once a week or so she gets Mazuri which she dearly loves and she makes a pretty good mush-mouth picture. She was an adult when I bought her so I am used to the way she looks, and I think she is beautiful. Well, maybe a bit high domed and a tiny bit pyramided...What do you think? Does she look too bad?
I've ended the photos with one of Bob, evidently he's not smart enough to get in out of the rain today...

 

[bouaboua]

Bob is a jerk so you don't provide napkin for him.

How about this nice Hermanni with good table manner......some napkin Please!!!

 

[Dorrie Siu]

Beautiful coloring, she looks like she's all Hermanni. I don't see any Boettgeri in there... What do you mean dorsal scute doesn't go to the end? Do you have a carapace pic please?

 

[terryo]

I'm glad to see some pictures of Queenie Maggie. Those are the torts that are beautiful to me....I guess because most of mine are rescues that were not wanted for some reason or another. I love that picture of Bob in the rain too.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Beautiful coloring, she looks like she's all Hermanni. I don't see any Boettgeri in there... What do you mean dorsal scute doesn't go to the end? Do you have a carapace pic please?

Beautiful coloring, she looks like she's all Hermanni. I don't see any Boettgeri in there... What do you mean dorsal scute doesn't go to the end? Do you have a carapace pic please?

The dorsal scutes divide at the end making 2.5 scutes instead of 1. Click on the thumbnail pix, for some reason it didn't print out but if you click on it you can see her spine and what I am trying to describe...

 

[Dorrie Siu]

Ahh I see now, thanks for telling me about the little pic. Yes, she doesn't have a symmetrical pattern but to me I think that makes her all the more special. I wish I can find a young female with a split scute.

 

[HermanniChris]

Thanks for reaching out to me maggie3fan, can you post some other photos of her? A plastron shot would he helpful mostly. While beautiful, she certainly is a little odd looking for her to be 100% hermanni. This could of course just be because of her growth. Also how big is she?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Thanks for reaching out to me maggie3fan, can you post some other photos of her? A plastron shot would he helpful mostly. While beautiful, she certainly is a little odd looking for her to be 100% hermanni. This could of course just be because of her growth. Also how big is she?

She is not the same shape as the Hermanni I see pix of on TFO, and she is more brightly colored. In 2 places she has split scutes, as well as a high domed carapace and just a kinda odd shape.
She weighs 1.25 pounds, her SCL is 6.5 inches and her SPL is 6 inches. She hatched in 2005. Thanks for trying to help me figure out just what she is. I hope these photos help...

 

[HermanniChris]

She actually does appear to be pure hermanni. Her pectoral scute seam on the plastron is not smaller than the femoral seam which is a trait of boettgeri, but all other traits point to hermanni. Her yellow color is vibrant but not as vibrant or intense as most hermanni at least the ones kept here. Still, this does not make her impure. Were you able to find out who originally produced her? Her shape is classic of island hermanni, meaning those found on Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily. Her size also points her in that direction.

 

[Yvonne G]

When she got the tortoise from EgyptianDan, I'm pretty sure he told her that it was his tortoise. I may be wrong. And Danny's the one who told her it was a mixed species.

 

[HermanniChris]

Unfortunately there is no way to be 100% sure with this particular animal. Only DNA can assure us. Every once in a while we see extremely difficult ones to I.D. such as this animal. If Dan knows for certain the animal is mixed by who it came from then there is no question. It just happens to lean more towards hermanni than boettgeri as far as traits go.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Thank you Chris, you have helped a lot...