# Help to identify Gender and species of my tortoise



## Amberbk

Hello,

please can someone confirm that my tortoise is male and what species he is?
he is 20 years old
Thanks


----------



## LiasisUK

It's a female and I'd say it's a Hermann's


----------



## Amberbk

LiasisUK said:


> It's a female and I'd say it's a Hermann's


Hello, oh really I thought I had a male for 20 years 😬. Thank you I did think Herman’s or spur thighed.


----------



## LiasisUK

Yes either Hermans or Spur Thigh, both look similar as adults. Spur Thighs have a enlarged spur scale on their hind legs.


----------



## Amberbk

LiasisUK said:


> Yes either Hermans or Spur Thigh, both look similar as adults. Spur Thighs have a enlarged spur scale on their hind legs.


I found this where they was sleeping .. could it be anything or maybe a frog eggs ?


----------



## purplepixie

Amberbk said:


> Hello,
> 
> please can someone confirm that my tortoise is male and what species he is?
> he is 20 years old
> Thanks
> View attachment 368600
> 
> View attachment 368599
> 
> View attachment 368597
> 
> View attachment 368598


You have a female ibera, nice looking too. I keep ibera:0)
I see she has a damages scute at the back end, I would bathe in diluted betadine or the like to stop bacteria setting in:0)


----------



## Amberbk

purplepixie said:


> You have a female ibera, nice looking too. I keep ibera:0)
> I see she has a damages scute at the back end, I would bathe in diluted betadine or the like to stop bacteria setting in:0)


Thank you, I can’t believe ‘he’ is a female. Yes that happened a few years ago. Should I still bathe now?


----------



## purplepixie

Amberbk said:


> Thank you, I can’t believe ‘he’ is a female. Yes that happened a few years ago. Should I still bathe now?


To be honest, if your tortoise is eating well, I just water the weeds and this is enough for them when they are adult. But I do leave plant saucers around the garden with rain water in, so they can drink when they want too. But she must be showing signs of slowing down, now the days are getting shorter. If you are winding down for hibernation in the future then bathe while doing this to be sure. 
I hope this helps:0)


----------



## Amberbk

purplepixie said:


> To be honest, if your tortoise is eating well, I just water the weeds and this is enough for them when they are adult. But I do leave plant saucers around the garden with rain water in, so they can drink when they want too. But she must be showing signs of slowing down, now the days are getting shorter. If you are winding down for hibernation in the future then bathe while doing this to be sure.
> I hope this helps:0)


Thank you.
Are you 100% sure she is female? For 20 years we have thought it was a he .. we did have 2 one died over 10 years ago so unless they got mixed up after hibernation one year. 
yes slowing down , they have been a sleep for a few days but waken again as the weather isn’t cold.


----------



## purplepixie

Amberbk said:


> Thank you.
> Are you 100% sure she is female? For 20 years we have thought it was a he .. we did have 2 one died over 10 years ago so unless they got mixed up after hibernation one year.
> yes slowing down , they have been a sleep for a few days but waken again as the weather isn’t cold.


Yes definitely female, the tail would be much longer in a male:0)


----------



## Amberbk

purplepixie said:


> Yes definitely female, the tail would be much longer in a male:0)


Oh wow okay thank you!


----------



## SueBoyle

LiasisUK said:


> It's a female and I'd say it's a Hermann's
> [/QUOTE
> 
> It’s female but definitely not hermanni, it’s testudo graeca.


----------



## Amberbk

I’ve just googled testudo and they do look the same thank you. Still really surprise everyone is saying female after all these years of thinking it was a male


----------



## SueBoyle

Amberbk said:


> I’ve just googled testudo and they do look the same thank you. Still really surprise everyone is saying female after all these years of thinking it was a male


Testudo covers several species including hermanni. Testudo is just the genus


----------



## Amberbk

SueBoyle said:


> Testudo covers several species including hermanni. Testudo is just the genus


Oh okay thank you.


----------



## ian14

Did you not have paperwork when you bought the tortoise?
As a CITES Appendix 1/ Annex A species, it must be microchips and accompanied by a valid Article 10 Certificate. Which would state species at the vey least


----------



## SueBoyle

Depends whether sold or gifted and microchips are according to size. I’ve never microchipped a baby tortoise as it’s inhumane. My vet won’t do them either despite being an exotics vet.


----------



## Amberbk

No I don’t have any of these as I was gifted when I was younger.


----------



## purplepixie

ian14 said:


> Did you not have paperwork when you bought the tortoise?
> As a CITES Appendix 1/ Annex A species, it must be microchips and accompanied by a valid Article 10 Certificate. Which would state species at the vey least


If gifted or rehomed then paperwork is not needed. This only becomes a problem if you would want to breed from them:0)
As you do need paperwork to do so:0)


----------



## ian14

purplepixie said:


> If gifted or rehomed then paperwork is not needed. This only becomes a problem if you would want to breed from them:0)
> As you do need paperwork to do so:0)


I'm aware of that. My post re an A10 was before the OP said that the tortoise had been gifted.
What many don't realise is that if you are gifting or being gifted an Annex A species there is a certificate to download from gov.uk to cover this. It's always an idea to do this as it avoids issues further down the line, for example breeding from a gifted specimen, if you need to apply for an A10. Here is the link:






Endangered species: declare a gift or loan


Form to declare a gift or loan of an annex A CITES-listed specimen that did not involve a commercial transaction.




www.gov.uk


----------



## LJSW1982

purplepixie said:


> You have a female ibera, nice looking too. I keep ibera:0)
> I see she has a damages scute at the back end, I would bathe in diluted betadine or the like to stop bacteria setting in:0)


It is a Testudo Graeca Graeca. The first scute is the wrong shape to be Ibera, where it woul be less angular, it is just a mottled colour.

It has a fairly small tail, however the position of the cloaca further down the tail from the plastron that towards it would say male and the shape of its anal scutes would say its a male.

Has it ever shown its penis to you, most likely when you have bathed it?


----------



## Shellsfeathers&fur

Do you have experience with sexing tortoises?


----------



## LJSW1982

Shellsfeathers&fur said:


> Do you have experience with sexing tortoises?


Yes, I have experience of sexing tortoises as I expect my comment demonstrated.


----------



## Shellsfeathers&fur

LJSW1982 said:


> Yes, I have experience of sexing tortoises as I expect my comment demonstrated.


Ah ok it is just that what you have said totally disagrees with what our most experienced keepers on here have said.


----------



## LJSW1982

Shellsfeathers&fur said:


> Ah ok it is just that what you have said totally disagrees with what our most experienced keepers on here have said.


Perhaps they have different experience, I explained to OP why I felt it was a male and why I felt it was a Graeca Graeca, they can always research further on the Internet to substantiate any of the views to come to a conclusion.


----------



## SueBoyle

That’s the strangest statement I’ve seen yet. Whilst anal scute shapes can be useful in some species, particular larger species, they aren’t always useful in smaller species. This tortoise is typical of the ibera which we saw years ago in Antalya region.


----------

