Sexing my Hermans

[Shellbyshell]

Hi guys I have about a 6 year old Herman’s and just curious to know what sex

[Nina]

Hi Shelbyshell and welcome to The Tortoise Table,

It's difficult to sex tortoises under the age of about 6 or 7, so your tortoise should be the right age now to determine sex. Can you send us a photo of the tortoise's underside, clearly showing the tail? And it helps if the tail is pointing straight out and not tucked to the side, so that we can see the shape of the cloaca (the hole that he poos and wees from).

Looking forward to seeing your photos.

Nina

[theomney]

Males are approximately 12% smaller than females. They also have a thicker and longer tail. It takes 6-7 years before differences between males and females are obvious, as the carapace must be at least 10 cm long to be useful in sex determination.