Sexing by plastron?

[pegaleh]

Hi there!

I took my little Reggie to the vet today, and the vet said he thinks he is a she, because his plastron is very flat; he said himself that indicators vary species to species, and everyone there asked if he was a Russian, so it's not like they're Hermann's "experts," just a local exotic vet.

I assumed he was a he because his tail does seem longer like in other comparison photos I google. It doesn't matter either way, but I was curious whether Hermanns can be commonly sexed by checking the plastron for a concave?

For history, I've had Reggie since July, he's growing great and is about 11.4cm in length, unsure about age.

Thanks!

Pic for attention, but I don't wanna bother him again with getting tail pics 🤪 he's been bothered enough today!

 

[wellington]

Depends on age and if raised correctly thru it's life. I rescued a leopard that looked very female until it caught up with it's age with it's size and he then got all the male tells.
Russian males don't concave, so they are one species, and I believe the only one, that the plastron would not be the tell.
Little scary though that the vet didn't know the species.

 

[Tom]

Hi there!

I took my little Reggie to the vet today, and the vet said he thinks he is a she, because his plastron is very flat; he said himself that indicators vary species to species, and everyone there asked if he was a Russian, so it's not like they're Hermann's "experts," just a local exotic vet.

I assumed he was a he because his tail does seem longer like in other comparison photos I google. It doesn't matter either way, but I was curious whether Hermanns can be commonly sexed by checking the plastron for a concave?

For history, I've had Reggie since July, he's growing great and is about 11.4cm in length, unsure about age.

Thanks!

Pic for attention, but I don't wanna bother him again with getting tail pics 🤪 he's been bothered enough today!

They all have flat plastrons as juveniles. The secondary sexual characteristics don't show up until they are reaching maturity.

Is that picture in the travel carrier, or is that the enclosure?

 

[pegaleh]

Is that picture in the travel carrier, or is that the enclosure?

Travel carrier! It's when he was at the vet.

 

[pegaleh]

Depends on age and if raised correctly thru it's life. I rescued a leopard that looked very female until it caught up with it's age with it's size and he then got all the male tells.
Russian males don't concave, so they are one species, and I believe the only one, that the plastron would not be the tell.
Little scary though that the vet didn't know the species.

Thanks! Yeah, when I googled it, half of the sources said the Herman's concave and the other half said they didn't, so when I read this^ I googled Russians as well, and it's about the same information 😂 I'll just wait and see if Reggie turns out to be a Regina or remains a Reginald!

As for the vet, I do agree. He had taken a mild tumble when my 13 y/o was replacing his water, and I had just wanted him checked out for the first time, and this is the only local vet that I could find on short notice. I think Reggie's entirely fine (I'm a vet tech but have no experience with exotics), so I won't need a second opinion, but he recommended I move my little guy to be near a window, which whatever, except we live in CT and it's January...I have a hard enough time making sure the temps are where they need to be without bringing him closer to where it's colder...🤷‍♀️ at least I have a vet nearby who can do nail and beak trims if I ever need it?

 

[Tom]

...but he recommended I move my little guy to be near a window...

...and the vet said he thinks he is a she, because his plastron is very flat...

The above two quotes are what I like to call "signs". Some people call them "red flags". Call them whatever you want, but these are your clues that this vet has no idea about the most basic tenets of tortoise care.

Yeah, when I googled it...

Google is going to lead to bad tortoise care decisions and terrible frustration for you. Please give this a read or two:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[pegaleh]

The above two quotes are what I like to call "signs". Some people call them "red flags". Call them whatever you want, but these are your clues that this vet has no idea about the most basic tenets of tortoise care.



Google is going to lead to bad tortoise care decisions and terrible frustration for you. Please give this a read or two:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Hi, thanks I'm very sorry for the confusion. I'm new to this site, and new to Hermann's, but not new to tortoises. I appreciate all the fantastic help and info! I'll definitely take a deep look into that to make sure nothing has changed since I was rehabbing the wild ones back in the day. I feel the pain of the Dr. Google 😭 so many of my patients rely on it without knowing which sources are legitimate (I've told SO many owners, your dogs nose cannot tell you if your dog is sick). It was just very interesting how many vet sites that "see" tortoises gave conflicting information!

Thanks for your help!

 

[Tom]

Hi, thanks I'm very sorry for the confusion. I'm new to this site, and new to Hermann's, but not new to tortoises. I appreciate all the fantastic help and info! I'll definitely take a deep look into that to make sure nothing has changed since I was rehabbing the wild ones back in the day. I feel the pain of the Dr. Google 😭 so many of my patients rely on it without knowing which sources are legitimate (I've told SO many owners, your dogs nose cannot tell you if your dog is sick). It was just very interesting how many vet sites that "see" tortoises gave conflicting information!

Thanks for your help!

That thread is for people new to the site. As you've probably seen, the info given here differs significantly from what is found in books and on the rest of the internet. It is just as important and helpful for people who have been keeping tortoises for decades as it is for people who are just about to get their first tortoise. I hope it helps you too.