Stumbled across my first Tortoise. Berlandier's/Texas?

tortadise

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This is why i thought the sex was male. Good sized indention on the bottom right before the hind legs.

View attachment 84481
They can be tricky. But trust me, I have had quite a few male Texas tortoises here. When they concave I'm talking like 4" or so concave. Males also have female looking anal scutes that create a circle. Females resemble a male(typical of other tortoises) look like anal scutes. Also that one is looking captive cared for and a young female. If that were male at that size it would be full blown adult and very very concave. I will try and find some pics of my males I had here. Females tend to stay shaped more round as well in this species. Females also have more of a pronge gular scute where as males gular will taper off more of an angle at the end. Kinda hard to explain via written format. Let me try and find some photos for you.
 

tortadise

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This is a male. I don't have a side profile. But they (males)are very very concave which is hard to tell by the photo.
image.jpg
 

greyshirt

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I haven't been here in a long time. Thought I would add my two cents. Definitely Texas (Berlandier). I don't like to disagree with any one but whether it has chin glands or not it seems to be a young tortoise and contrary to the info that is put in the literature females can also have chin glands. Even though I have pamphlets that were given me by the Houston Zoo to help educate the public that say only males have the chin glands, as does most other literature on the subject, I have a female that has laid many eggs and she has these glands. The main problem is that not much (any) research has been done on these guys, unlike California and Florida. Kelly I know you have raised Texans, do they hatch with a concave plastron or does that happen over time. Any babies I've hatched have been placed with different educational organizations, so I've never raised one from a baby. If I get a chance tomorrow I will post a pic of my glandular female.
 

ascott

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I don't like to disagree with any one

Oh good grief :p no harm done in disagreeing....we do so to offer our input...so please don't feel out of sorts in offering your opinion, even if it is not status quo.....:rolleyes:
 

bigred

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Ah now....see...then you go and get a pic with the horn in much better form.....possibly a younger male.....still don't think you have a texan though....ok, I am going to call male and stick with that (well, for now anyways...apologies, I am a female and have a tendency to utilize my right to change my mind a gazillion times)...see, I am not good at guessing via a pic, I am usually bang on if I am holding in my hand for evaluation...so lets see what the others say....I love this part :p

HaHa Ive never come across a female that has changed her mind ( just because ) haha just joking. Angela, you are just one smart gal
With advice from ascott and tortadise you just cant go wrong
 

ascott

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HaHa Ive never come across a female that has changed her mind ( just because ) haha just joking. Angela, you are just one smart gal
With advice from ascott and tortadise you just cant go wrong

Now here you have a perfect example of a brilliant and intelligent man....teeheee :p
 

mtm

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Excellent new guys! Someone had these posted this morning on the road I found the tortoise crossing. I am very excited. I left a voicemail and am waiting on the callback.

uploadfromtaptalk1403526335381.jpg
 

Elohi

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Excellent new guys! Someone had these posted this morning on the road I found the tortoise crossing. I am very excited. I left a voicemail and am waiting on the callback.

View attachment 84764

OMG a wonderful happy ending! I LOVE this tort. She is GORGEOUS and it's awesome to know she is finding her way back home.


Elohi(Earth)
 

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