Still think this is a CH redfoot? thanks

[llamas55]

so, last summer people said by her (?) nose she is a CH. I think by her dark matching skin she is too, but now that her post plastron shell rot is coming in only sort of dark at the seams, is this still CH enough?

It is so sad that the shell rot places won't fill in, you can see the dab of yellow shell remaining in each section (for newbies, she came to me that way).

Also, I think the pyramiding is arrested now with good humidity,it is so hard to tell.

Note to self: wipe tort feet before putting on bedspread!
She is about 1 3/4 pounds gaining an oz. a month.
Her SLC is 6.1" and maybe 3 years (does that sound right)?

anyhow, just wondering since she is my only tort, pending finding another (found a half CH I like in WA then folks said don't mix them in breeding, so I held off, altho who knows the sex of the other anyhow, as it is 6 mos) if the plastron really looks "full" CH...and thanks, as I know lots of people ask the same about theirs.

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Also, I think the pyramiding is arrested now with good humidity,it is so hard to tell.

---

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Mine had severe shell rot when they came to me too. They even had deep holes in their plastrons. I've had them two years now and they have healed very nicely. The holes have filled it and the plastron is getting darker. It's getting harder to tell they ever had shell rot. Mine are pyramided too - wish I could fix that.

 

[dreadyA]

Looks like a ch to me.
Ive seen pics of your ch's, Kim. They looked smooth to me:]

 

[llamas55]

so, last summer people said by her (?) nose she is a CH. I think by her dark matching skin she is too, but now that her post plastron shell rot is coming in only sort of dark at the seams, is this still CH enough?

It is so sad that the shell rot places won't fill in, you can see the dab of yellow shell remaining in each section (for newbies, she came to me that way).

Also, I think the pyramiding is arrested now with good humidity,it is so hard to tell.

Note to self: wipe tort feet before putting on bedspread!
She is about 1 3/4 pounds gaining an oz. a month.
Her SLC is 6.1" and maybe 3 years (does that sound right)?

anyhow, just wondering since she is my only tort, pending finding another (found a half CH I like in WA then folks said don't mix them in breeding, so I held off, altho who knows the sex of the other anyhow, as it is 6 mos) if the plastron really looks "full" CH...and thanks, as I know lots of people ask the same about theirs.

---

Also, I think the pyramiding is arrested now with good humidity,it is so hard to tell.

]

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Mine had severe shell rot when they came to me too. They even had deep holes in their plastrons. I've had them two years now and they have healed very nicely. The holes have filled it and the plastron is getting darker. It's getting harder to tell they ever had shell rot. Mine are pyramided too - wish I could fix that.

what I wish is, the yellow in the plastron sections would fill in nice and sniny/smooth instead of the eroded rough areas where there was shell rot- maybe I used the betadine too long, based on answers on another thread in today's forum- but- I'm off topic, so....off I go

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Cherryhead or not, (s)he is a beautiful redfoot!

Has Danny confirmed the gender yet?

 

[egyptiandan]

Yes it is a Cherryhead It is though a male

Danny

 

[llamas55]

they said 9 mos ago probably girl, so it went from Tommy Tortoise to Tommi Tortoise. I have a hard time with the pointy plastron parts discerning which is which, it was either Tom or Nerd of the Sage Advice or both who said probably girl....any other thoughts welcome

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Yes it is a Cherryhead It is though a male

Danny

Are you 100%? no waistline showing yet at all, altho she/he is probably just 3....do you want a close up plastron tail area shot?

 

[egyptiandan]

Male Cherryheads don't get pinch waisted like the Northern Redfoot males. No that picture is fine, I'm 100% sure thats a male.

Danny

 

[llamas55]

Male Cherryheads don't get pinch waisted like the Northern Redfoot males. No that picture is fine, I'm 100% sure thats a male.

Danny

Danny, can you tell me what you're seeing then? Would he get the concave plastron shape later?Thanks, Patricia

 

[cdmay]

Pretty sure that is a male cherryhead.
Male cherryheads often don't develope the really long tails that some other redfoot males do. So you will sometimes see big male cherryheads with rather stubby tails.
The carapace isn't great but it isn't that bad either. With proper care it will appear more normal as he grows.
The old shell fungus damage on the plastron will also continue to improve in appearence as time goes by.

 

[llamas55]

thanks
no fungus damage, no fungus at all, on his top shell.
so the old damaged part will actually grow new shell? It has been 18 mos, and all I've noticed is the lines of new growth at the edge that weren't there when he arrived.
do the male ch redfoots get concave plastrons by say, age 8?

 

[cdmay]

Cherryhead males do develop concave plastrons but again, sometimes not quite as extreme as some of the other types. They do vary though from male to male however.
The old fungal damage will not regrow unless the damage was so severe as to cause the external part of the scute (laminae) to slough off. Otherwise you will just see a difference in the new, clean growth. In time though the rough edges of the old damage will wear down and appear more natural.

 

[llamas55]

if the laminae is the shiny pretty top part, like a formica counter, it is way gone, and my judgement is the plastron is very, very thin in those places. so oh well, at least I got it to halt and her to revive (oops HIM) and come back to life gradually ( I acquired him from CA to here MN and in my naivety never asked for a plastron shot- he was biggish and feather weight/hollow, so at least I felt good when he revived and the shell re-started growth: I lucked on to betadine as it killed a hoof fungus a llama had, because the vet hadn't a clue so I just started rubbing it on the shell on my own)
ok, so concavity (some) later

how is it we can't use the anal opening distance from shell, for babies, like a red earred slider, to sex them younger?

 

[cdmay]

how is it we can't use the anal opening distance from shell, for babies, like a red earred slider, to sex them younger?

Well, for starters because they are not red eared sliders.
Also I am not sure that trying to sex young RES in that manner is actually very accurate.
I have seen a few people examine hatchling, or very tortoises' rear ends and claim they can sex them accurately. But how would you really know unless you followed each so called sexed hatchling to adulthood and verified the results. Even then, a person claiming to have the ability to accurately sex a hatchling (or very small) tortoise has a 50% chance of success given to them.
Hatchling tortoises of either sex have uniform shaped scutes until they begin to approach the sub-adult stage. But even as they approach the point where they begin to display their secondary sex characteristics, they can fool you. What often looks like a female at 4 or 5 inches can suddenly 'turn into' a male at 7 inches. Same goes for females that look like little males when they are juveniles only to go on and lay eggs later in life.