What are the odds of picking a male baby red foot at a pet store?

willee638

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Hi, I have purchased all 3 of my red foot tortoises from a reptile pet supply shop in the past 2-3 years & it appears most likely " not yet confirmed" all to be females. What are my odds of finding males in the bunch at stores? I suspect by watching & reading from social media breeders intentionally produce female tortoises for the tortoises pet trade markets is that a fact?
 

Toddrickfl1

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If there hatchlings then you've probably got a 50/50 chance of a male/female. When they're adults for sale it's actually usually harder to find a female.
 

wellington

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All tortoises look female when hatchlings and even until they start to mature. The temp for sex incubating is not accurate. It's not likely you have all females.
I agree, 50/50 chance
 

willee638

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Thanks for your input, I have stopped trying to determine their sex at such early stage. 50/50 chances is much better than I would have estimated to be, I should be more concerned of having too many male tortoises in a group instead.
 

Oldbattleaxe

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my first 8 redfoots turned out to be female. 4 were purchased at a pet shop, 4 came from Craigslist. all were between 2.5 and 3.5” at the time of purchase. After searching for three years, I was finally able to locate one young adult pair, thus finally gaining a male. I’m still looking for a second male.
 

willee638

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my first 8 redfoots turned out to be female. 4 were purchased at a pet shop, 4 came from Craigslist. all were between 2.5 and 3.5” at the time of purchase. After searching for three years, I was finally able to locate one young adult pair, thus finally gaining a male. I’m still looking for a second male.
Thank you for sharing this, yes from what I learned & believe female tortoises are intentionally being produced for easier management & they tend to co-exist more harmoniously together when acquired in pairs. I believe the majority of the arguments arises from having two or more males behaving aggressively towards each other & keepers advises against raising a pair of tortoises, my 3 torts shows no aggression, I am most probably in the same situation as yours as having a higher chance they're all females. It would be the reverse for a breeder to desire some males in their tortoises colony, I agree it isn't an exact science of manipulating the sexes ratios.
 

cooky_luvs

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my first 8 redfoots turned out to be female. 4 were purchased at a pet shop, 4 came from Craigslist. all were between 2.5 and 3.5” at the time of purchase. After searching for three years, I was finally able to locate one young adult pair, thus finally gaining a male. I’m still looking for a second male.
The same happened to me! Lol My original group of 7 all turned out to be female leaving me to hunt for a male later on ? Crazy how that happens
 

cooky_luvs

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I don’t believe temperature sexing is very accurate in the sense that I wouldn’t pay more for a tortoise because it was temperature sexed to be male or female but I do think breeders crank up those incubator temps for faster incubation which can lead to more females overall (but it’s no guarantee of gender).
 

willee638

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The demand for males & females torts depends on the purpose of different individual, I believe the male to females ratio isn't 50/50 as someone previously mentioned more like 65/35 in favor of females. Your chances are higher if you specify the sex you desire when ordering from a reputable breeder instead of trying your luck at a pet shop, in an entire batch at your local pet store there might not even be a single male tortoise amongst them.
 
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