Reptile & Amphibian Forums

N/P

Cherryheads are essentially a herper's variant/morph/form of Redfoot and are considered the same species (Geochelone carbonaria). I am sure others on this forum have mixed the two. I keep both myself (too young to breed)...great torts!

They may be able to crossbreed but they are obviously very distinct forms. Did you know that Kingsnakes and Gophersnakes can interbreed?
Ed

Ed/Mayday,
Obviously, I defer to your expertise. But my only intention was to answer the question, that yes, they can interbreed. I agree that they are a distinct form....but if you notice, I mention that they are a "herper's variant", meaning that they are not scientifically recognized at this time. I was only conveying the current status and did not intend to infer that they should not be officially recognized - sorry if it came off that way. BTW - for the record, I have seen hundreds of these torts at importers and have been pretty successful breeding many species of torts/turtles myself for the past 20 years.
Doug
PS - Did you make it to the Pine Barrens this year?

You are correct too...they can breed and produce healthy and fertile hatchlings.
There is a 'dealer' who used to produce hatchlings that were from just such a breeding several years ago. He had a 'cherryhead' male (that was from the original Pet Farm group of 1984) but Colombian and Surinam female redfoots. The hatchlings looked like exceptionally colored Colombian redfoots. Unfortunately, the people who purchased these hatchlings had no idea what their background was.
That is what concerns me--which is obviously NOT what you intended.

I remember Pet Farm...I still have their old lists - they had everything there. And didn't they have a unique method of herding torts?

I don't know bout herding them but I do remember going there once in 1980 when they had just imported 500 Bolivian redfoots. They had them all over the back yard section.
My girlfriend (now my wife) and I spent literally a few hours going through them. There were some INCREDIBLY nice ones in that group! I picked out what has to be two of the most beautiful redfoots I have ever seen. Then I brought them home and watched them die inside of a week! They never ate or drank or did anything but they had excellent weight and appeared healthy. What a loss.
I also remember being there right after they imported a bunch of 'Paraguayan' cherryheads in 1984. I picked some really killer ones from that group too and they all did great. They were $40.00 each. Boy do I wish I had kept them. One of my females had an intense, solid crimson head. Another had a carapace like a leopard tortoise (there is a photograph of her in a book or two by Dick Bartlett).
Pet Farm sure was quite a place.

Hey Doug, one of these days I'll get email names, chat names and given names in order.
Didn't make it to the Pine Barrens this year. I've just got too many trips as is. I'm going to the IHS in Houston next week and a few other trips after that. Maybe next year. I heard that it wasn't much good this year though because of too much rain.
Ed

no one has bothered to formally describe the redheaded or 'cherryhead' type. They very clearly ARE different in a number of distinct ways.
I would NOT mix the two but would rather wait till you can pair them up with their own geographical counterparts.
BTW.....the 'giant' or Bolivian redfoots (that are also found in Paraguay) are also quite obviously yet another species or subspecies that needs attention.