Reptile Questions

How can you tell if a tortoise is aggressive?

How Tortoises Show Aggression 1 Typical signs of tortoise aggression 2 Head Banging. A head banging Tortoise is usually a sign of the reptile being assertive. ... 3 Biting or Snapping. In a fight with another tortoise, it is normal for a tortoise to bite or snap. ... 4 Ramming. ... 5 Chasing. ...

Can You Tell How Old A Tortoise Is By Its Shell? A veterinarian may be able to estimate the animal's age based on shell condition, overall size, etc, but there's no way to pinpoint it. (No, you can 't tell a tortoise's age by counting the growth rings on its scutes - those only denote periods of faster growth. What does a tortoise look like when it dies?

How To Tell If A Tortoise Is Male Or Female? Checking a Tortoises Gender 1 Gular Scutes. First off if you pick the tortoise up and turn it over gently take a look at the plastron. ... 2 Shell. Looking at the bottom of the tortoise's shell you will immediately be able to tell the difference between a male and female given that on males it will be ... 3 Tail. ...

How To Tell If A Turtle Is A Tortoise Or A Turtle?

Looking for physical characteristics, like long claws, sturdy feet, and shell shape can help you to tell if you're looking at a pet turtle or a tortoise. "Turtle" is a broad term that can refer to any reptile with a shell.

How Can You Tell The Difference Between A Turtle And Tortoise? If you cannot identify them based on this difference between turtle and tortoise, you can try feeding them meet. The shell of the tortoises is more rounded and domed, whereas turtles have thinner, more water-dynamic shells. Most of the turtles have streamlined shells that aid in swimming.

How Can You Tell If A Tortoise Is Yellow Or Red? On the front legs, in particular, there will be yellow scales on the Yellow-Footed Tortoise, while the Red-Footed Tortoise will have red scales. Also, the Yellow-Footed Tortoise will have a shell that is colored light golden brown.

How To Tell If A Russian Tortoise Is Male Or Female? Russian tortoises prefer to be left outdoors in warm weather. Female Russian tortoises are larger than male Russian tortoises. When a female reaches 6 inches long, she is mature. She can produce eggs at this stage.

How Can You Tell How Old Your Russian Tortoise Is? Method 1 of 2: Approximating Your Tortoise's Age Keep track of the tortoise's "hatch date" for 100% certainty. ... Assume a baby tortoise with a soft shell is under 6 months old. ... Compare its size to the average same-sex adult of its species. ... Use sexual maturity as a sign a tortoise is at least 15. ... Count scute rings on the shell for a very rough age estimate. ... More items...

How To Tell If Your Sulcata Tortoise Is Healthy?

If your sulcata tortoise feels like a rock or a shell full of water when you pick it up, then he's healthy and his weight is normal. But if it feels like a shell full of air when you pick it up, then he's underweight. By calculating your tortoise BMI is another sure way to tell if it's underweight or not.

How Can You Tell If A Sulcata Tortoise Is Sick? Runny nosePuffy or swollen eyesDrainage or bubbles coming from the mouth, eyes or noseDifficulty breathingOpen mouth breathingWhistling while breathingLethargic and a decrease in energyExcessive sneezing, coughing or gaspingLoss of appetite

How Can You Tell How Old A Russian Tortoise Is? Method 2 Method 2 of 2: Estimating a Wild Tortoise's AgeFollow a "mark and recapture" protocol over years or decades. ...Dissect a dead tortoise for skeletochronology testing. While counting the "growth rings" on a tortoise's shell is a questionable way to estimate its age, counting and measuring the growth ...Conduct laboratory blood tests for age markers. ...Test the fungi growing on the tortoise's shell. ...More items...

How Can You Tell A Male From A Female Russian Tortoise? You can also distinguish a male tortoise from a female through a little craw at the end of the tail. All male tortoises tend to have a small craw at the end of their tail while most females do not have. Another common feature of identifying the sex of a russian tortoise is by their size. Russian Tortoise.

How Can You Tell A Male From A Female Horsefield Tortoise? Male Horsefield tortoises have larger tales that are tucked towards the side. Female shells have scutes which are not present in males. Horsefiedl tortoise is found in different colors. The outer shell is generally black or ruddy brown that fades to yellow between the scutes. The body is brown or straw yellow.

How Can You Tell A Male From A Female Horsfield Tortoise?

The plastron of males is barely convex, but males do possess a much longer tail than females and hence may readily be identified. Distribution: The Horsfield's tortoise is an Asiatic species of wide zoogeographic distribution, albeit at low individual population densities.

How Can You Tell A Male From A Female Spurred Tortoise? As the spurred tortoise grows, it can be seen that the underside shell, called the plastron, is flat in the female but concave in the male. The anal scutes, which are located on the plastron near the tail, form a V shape but are flared in the male and narrower in the female.

How Can You Tell If A Tortoise Shell Is Healthy? Healthy tortoise shells tend to be smooth, with the individual scutes as flat as possible. There are some species that are an exception to this rule, but most of the time, a smooth, domed shell is a good indicator of health.

How Can You Tell If A Galapagos Tortoise Is Male Or Female? Another fascinating feature of the Galapagos tortoise's shell is that you can tell the tortoise's gender by looking at the undershell. Female tortoises will have a slight outward (convex) curve on the undershell, while those of male tortoises have a slight inward (concave) curve.

How Can I Tell How Old My Tortoise Is? There is one way to be sure and that is knowing it's hatching date. In this photo the tortoise in the middle is over 25years old and the two at the sides are around 3 years of age. Yet they are almost identical in size and the growth rings are similar. Unless you have an exact hatching date you can only go off maturity.

How To Tell The Age Of A Tortoise?

Method 2 Method 2 of 2: Estimating a Wild Tortoise's AgeFollow a "mark and recapture" protocol over years or decades. ...Dissect a dead tortoise for skeletochronology testing. While counting the "growth rings" on a tortoise's shell is a questionable way to estimate its age, counting and measuring the growth ...Conduct laboratory blood tests for age markers. ...Test the fungi growing on the tortoise's shell. ...More items...

How Can You Tell If A Tortoise Is Alive? Just watch for any movement in the feather. If the tortoise is breathing, the feather should just barely move. This method works best in a breeze-free area. Essentially, if your tortoise does not seem to be breathing or he is droopy, floppy, and unresponsive, then your tortoise is most likely dead.

How Can You Tell A Tortoise From A Reptile? Tortoise and Reptile Skulls Another great way to tell reptiles apart from amphibians and mammals is their bones, specifically their skulls. Reptiles, and therefore tortoises, all have what is called a diapsid skull. This comes from their prehistoric grandparents who all had this skull type.

How Can You Tell Male And Female Tortoise Apart? The size of the shell, males are smaller than femalesThe length of the claws, males have longer claws than femalesThe shape of the shell, females have a flat plastron, while males have a concave plastronThe length of the tail, females have shorter tails, while males have longer tailsMore items...

How To Tell If Your Tortoise Is Happy? Consider providing your turtle with an empty shell that they can slide across the floor with or place a small toy raft in their water that they can push along ...Train your turtle to eat from your hand. ...Try building an obstacle course. ...More items...