Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what is it that makes a cherry head different from a normal red foot?
other than size.
I have a pair of young 8 to 9 inch red foot torts that have very red heads.
is there any scale counts or ?????

This is a much debated question as there is only 1 species but some variations exist including size and color. This stems largely from the geographic range they originate from. Some CH's have orange and/or yellowish heads. I saw a huge female 'cherryhead' RF at Daytona that was about 15 inches. Some of these 'dwarf' references are being made by people who are either misinformed by a previous seller or just ignorant and wish to capitalize on a perceived uniqueness. Someone recently advertised a "proven" pair of dwarfs at about 6". No one I know has ever heard of such a size producing eggs. I have a 9.5" cherryhead that has produced viable eggs for 2 years and confirmed with several experienced CHRF keepers that this is one of the smaller sized animals that successfully produced.

here are my red foot tortoises in question

the girl

Here's one for you.

They are both Cherryheads. To me there is a very distinctive look to that race.

I have one that a friend gave me that is almost all black. It is very dark but it is definatly a Cherryhead RF.

A plastron picture is the easiest way to tell.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

here is the female pic

and the male
he made a mess after feeding tonight.
for some reason he is not happy unless he is staniding in the food.