Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have noticed an increase in the amount of "marbled" cherryheads for sale. One of my cherryheads (female) is developing this pattern and the smaller male has no indication of this happening to him. Is this the newest trend in cherryhead breeding or is this something that occurs during periods of growth? Of is it luck of the draw? Thanks.

Allegra

The marbled color form of the cherryhead RF seems to be random among imported animals. I know that when I have seen large numbers of imported animals ( I'm talking about over 500 animals) many had it to some degree while a few were really marbled with lots of white. Others had none.
There also seems to be an 'either or' factor too. I have hatched some that showed marbling after only a few months while siblings never developed it.
In some cases the marbling darkens over the years and becomes black but in other tortoises it remains very bold.

This hatchling is from this past summer. It began showing the marbling color months ago.
A friend now owns it along with a sibling that shows absolutely no marbling at all. Also, the ground color of this one is brownish rather than the usual black.
Both parents have zero marbling and never did even when they were little.

Wow, Carl! That is a very brown RF, very striking! I will take some pics of my tort's shell and send it to you, it isn't as much as the one's for sale, nor as much as your baby, but enough to make her interesting!