Does anyone know a good lab to either test ultrasound or do a DNA checkup to verify the gender of each tortoise? Has anyone on this forum had any luck with this?



This past weekend (on the other thread), I won first place in the NYTTS society competition (2nd runner up from grand prize), and received a blue ribbon. Since then, I have also improved my ways of raising my star tortoises, and they are doing very well.



I have one animal in particular that will take anyone's breath away. Although the sex is unknown, and it's only a half-yearling, the radiations on the tortoise are astonishing- a completely yellow pattern with no breaks. The double fans are even coming out, with the wide flaring at the bottom. I will post a pic as soon as I can.



Someone once told me that within any given clutch, the bigger tortoises are almost always going to be female, and the smaller ones will probably be male. Can anyone confirm this?



I've taken the advice of the posters on this forum regarding my husbandry techniques. Currently I am feeding my animals the diet suggested by Bill Zovickian in his caresheet: kale, escarole, string beans, and apples-- all chopped finely, and sprinked with rep cal and herptivite daily. I bathe them daily and keep the humidity and temperatures relatively high, with a good day/night cycle.



Right now, according to my intuition, I am guessing that I have 5 females, and 5 males, but I wish that the number was more along the lines of 3:7 or 4:6. If anyone has advice on gender determination, it would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

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