Re: "The Crying Game," tortoise style. . .

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Posted by Cindy R on May 15, 2001 at 23:52:28:

In Reply to: "The Crying Game," tortoise style. . . posted by Esther on May 15, 2001 at 20:29:07:

When we adopted our second desert tortoise she was presented to us as a female by a highly knowledgable, experienced tortoise keeper. This woman had managed the tortoise adoption program for years and clearly knew what she was looking for. She showed me the tort's flat plastron and explained how to tell males and females apart. Miss Daisy was a full grown adult desert tortoise who promptly began to display highly unladylike behavior. At first I thought it might be some kind of posturing or greeting but it soon became obvious that Miss Daisy was no lady and his name was changed to Mr. Aster. Hatchlings soon followed. And, within a year Mr. Aster's previously flat plastron was decidely concave. It is my assumption that the plastron remains flat as long as there is no mating activity to develop the concavity. Since Mr. Aster was found in the middle of a busy intersection far from any open desert, it is assumed that he had been a captive for many years or perhaps his whole life so it is possible that he had never had an opportunity to mate before he joined our household.

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So the sex of a tortoise can change? Michelle 05/16/01 (2)
- Re: So the sex of a tortoise can change? Esther 05/16/01 (0)
- Re: So the sex of a tortoise can change? EJ 05/16/01 (0)
In that case. . . Esther 05/16/01 (0)

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: When we adopted our second desert tortoise she was presented to us as a female by a highly knowledgable, experienced tortoise keeper. This woman had managed the tortoise adoption program for years and clearly knew what she was looking for. She showed me the tort's flat plastron and explained how to tell males and females apart. Miss Daisy was a full grown adult desert tortoise who promptly began to display highly unladylike behavior. At first I thought it might be some kind of posturing or greeting but it soon became obvious that Miss Daisy was no lady and his name was changed to Mr. Aster. Hatchlings soon followed. And, within a year Mr. Aster's previously flat plastron was decidely concave. It is my assumption that the plastron remains flat as long as there is no mating activity to develop the concavity. Since Mr. Aster was found in the middle of a busy intersection far from any open desert, it is assumed that he had been a captive for many years or perhaps his whole life so it is possible that he had never had an opportunity to mate before he joined our household.

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