re: TRADE?

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Posted by LauraO on July 05, 2001 at 10:04:52:

The trade part is in the last paragraph here, but in case anyone is interested:

I'm truly starting to believe that the Russian I thought was a female is really an immature male. I've been trying everyone's advice here. My original so-called female has a tail which is almost 1" long from the base. The tort I know to be male for sure has a much longer tail, but his shell is also much wider in proportion to the length.

My new "female" had the widest shell of all in proportion to its length, but her tail is far shrimpier than the first "female's".
It also does not have the girth at the base that the original "female's" does. The original "female" is housed with the definite male, and constantly harasses him; gaping, chasing, etc. This didn't really start to happen until around a month ago, or at least I didn't notice until then.

Someone here also suggested looking at how the two so-called females carried their tails. If to the side, then male; if straight out, then female. Both of my questionable torts switch off carrying them straight or to the side, so this does not help.

Considering the difference in shell width, I am wondering if the theory of wider rear plastron scutes belonging to males is true. Perhaps these scutes just widen over time along with the shell.

I am thinking now that the real way to tell if you have a female is if she has a tail with absolutely NO girth at the base, is around 1/2" long from the base only, and that this has to be the case by the time she is big enough to have a truly boxy-shaped shell; one that is almost as wide as it is long.

At any rate, if anyone out there for some reason would like to trade a male, healthy, prehensile tailed skink for a close-to-mature male russian tort, please email me. I can throw in a few bucks in addition. The tort has seen an experienced reptile vet, and has been treated for pinworms. One fecal has come back negative and I am going to send out another one early next week.

Thanks.

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: The trade part is in the last paragraph here, but in case anyone is interested: : I'm truly starting to believe that the Russian I thought was a female is really an immature male. I've been trying everyone's advice here. My original so-called female has a tail which is almost 1" long from the base. The tort I know to be male for sure has a much longer tail, but his shell is also much wider in proportion to the length. : My new "female" had the widest shell of all in proportion to its length, but her tail is far shrimpier than the first "female's". : It also does not have the girth at the base that the original "female's" does. The original "female" is housed with the definite male, and constantly harasses him; gaping, chasing, etc. This didn't really start to happen until around a month ago, or at least I didn't notice until then. : Someone here also suggested looking at how the two so-called females carried their tails. If to the side, then male; if straight out, then female. Both of my questionable torts switch off carrying them straight or to the side, so this does not help. : Considering the difference in shell width, I am wondering if the theory of wider rear plastron scutes belonging to males is true. Perhaps these scutes just widen over time along with the shell. : I am thinking now that the real way to tell if you have a female is if she has a tail with absolutely NO girth at the base, is around 1/2" long from the base only, and that this has to be the case by the time she is big enough to have a truly boxy-shaped shell; one that is almost as wide as it is long. : At any rate, if anyone out there for some reason would like to trade a male, healthy, prehensile tailed skink for a close-to-mature male russian tort, please email me. I can throw in a few bucks in addition. The tort has seen an experienced reptile vet, and has been treated for pinworms. One fecal has come back negative and I am going to send out another one early next week. : Thanks.

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