Sexing Tortoises

[itsonlyme]

Hi everyone,
I have bred canaries for over 40 years and have now changed to Tortoises.
Many years ago a mother would check the sex of their daughter´s unborn baby by dangling a sewing needle on a piece of cotton over their daughters tummy. If the needle swung back and forth it was a boy. If the needle went round in circles it was a girl. I used the same principle on my canaries with 98% success.
I went to my local pigeon racing club here in Spain, they just laughed. They gave me 12 pigeons to test. I was 100% correct. They still did not beleive me and said I was able tell the sex of pigeons.
I know the sex of one of my adult tortoises, a female, yes it went round and round. I have three young tortoises, sex unknown, two proved to be males and one female. Time will tell.
As it cost nothing why not try it. You might be amazed.
Turn the tortoise upside down and dangle the needle over the vent área. Keep out of any wind and draughts.
Happy sexing.
Regards
Gordon

 

[Yvonne G]

Never hurts to give it a try. Only thing is, a lot of the time your own "wishful thinking" helps give the needle the swing you're looking for. It's terribly hard to be objective and not move your hand at all.

 

[Tom]

Its obvious that lingering spirits in the world know what sex these animals are and use their etherial energy to sway the needle one way or another.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum.

 

[itsonlyme]

Hi everyone,
I have bred canaries for over 40 years and have now changed to Tortoises.
Many years ago a mother would check the sex of their daughter´s unborn baby by dangling a sewing needle on a piece of cotton over their daughters tummy. If the needle swung back and forth it was a boy. If the needle went round in circles it was a girl. I used the same principle on my canaries with 98% success.
I went to my local pigeon racing club here in Spain, they just laughed. They gave me 12 pigeons to test. I was 100% correct. They still did not beleive me and said I was able tell the sex of pigeons.
I know the sex of one of my adult tortoises, a female, yes it went round and round. I have three young tortoises, sex unknown, two proved to be males and one female. Time will tell.
As it cost nothing why not try it. You might be amazed.
Turn the tortoise upside down and dangle the needle over the vent área. Keep out of any wind and draughts.
Happy sexing.
Regards
Gordon

I appreciate the comments. But testing 12 pigeons (I kmow nothing about them) and sexing them all correctly, could possibly be put down to luck.
Try using the needle on partner or parents. Dangle the pin on the upper part of the hand, palm down, and see what happens,
Has anyone carried out this simple test on Tortoises yet..
Based on the comments so far, do not think about sexing the tortoise or what sex you would like them to be.
This week end I will get a friend to hold the Tortoise and cover it with a kitchen towel. So I do not know the species or sex.and compare it to my previous test.
Unscientific I know.
Thanks for comments