Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got 2 baby desert torts and a young sulcatta (I'm really a chameleon guy). I was wondering at what age you can determine sex in these species. They're all only about 6 months old. 4-5 years? Also, what would be a good age to let them live outside year round in Las Vegas? I know sulcattas can live outside year round in Phoenix and Vegas weather is similar. Another question, I know technically you're not supposed to breed desert torts in captivity, but if they're so rare in the wild so they say, why can't you let brand new, newly hatched desert torts go in the wild? They wouldn't yet be accustomed to captivity, wouldn't have even fed on anything not natural to them. In Vegas, if a desert tort walks on to a construction site, they (authorities) can shut down the job until it leaves. Why not just let all these babies go out in the middle of nowhere? I've always wondered.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV

You can usually sex Sulcata at around 5 or 6 years of age. The reason tortoises are not allowed to run wild is because, if they allowed that to happen, you'd have non-native species taking over the native species' habitat and perhaps running them to extinction. Also, the BLM keeps a census of native species.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, the only survivor)
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Maybe you didn't understand the question.... I was wondering if someone had 2 desert tortioses (which ARE native to Las Vegas) and they bred and produced babies in someone's backyard (which happens all the time) why can't the newborn babies be released to replenish the population that is supposedly so threatened? I know that if a tortiose is kept for a while in captivity then they won't make it in the wild (generally) but a newborn baby should be fine. Why can't that happen instead of adopting them out to people?
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV

The reason for not releasing into the wild has to do with genetic differences within various populations, at least as I understand it. Since you don't generally know the specific genetic makeup (origin) of your torts, the fear is that generalized release into the wild might compromise the native populations. There's a lot of field work that hasn't been done yet, and it's entirely possible that there are subspecies of desert tortoises that haven't been identified. Once a tortoise with a different background has mated and produced offspring with the native tortoises, that population has been genetically compromised.

I'm probably not using the right terminology in this explanation, but basically it involves mixing populations that shouldn't be mixed.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko