Another bad shop/garden centre

[Pussygalore]

We went to the Select Garden Centre at Sundridge near Sevenoaks today ( its good for birds) and they have torts as well as reptiles for sale, the ones upstairs are in vivariums but downstairs they had a rabbit enclosure with about 20 plus tiny hermans they can't have been very old any way they had a reasonable set up with heat and lighting and there was a young woman about to buy, I was eavesdropping and the salesperson was telling the buyer that you are best to buy either 2 females or males and he picked up one and said to the woman this is a female, I had to interupt and say that I didn,t think you could sex them that young but he was quite adament and put 2 females in a box for her, he carried on telling her such garbage that I walked away and at the Till she had been sold a vivarium, pellets and all the other useless stuff I caught her outside and mentioned our forum so maybe she will have a look but what she will do with all the equipment I have no idea. The centre is a genarally good one and I have no idea why they are not selling tort tables and giving better advice , I assume they feel that by the time the owner has found out fred is freda that they will have forgotten where they came from. I may sit down and write to them. Has anyone else been there?.

[sandy]

I have been in there, and their tortoises are not kept as bad as some. But the certainly need larger
vivs for them. And better informed staff.
But buyers beware, I have yet to find a petshop that is good for tortoises.

[saucysqueezy]

they could only be 90% sure if they had hatched the tortoises themselves are doesn't housing the eeggs at diff temps determine different genders? But it's highly doubtful that they shop has done that. With gender when the tortoises are put together (male and female) is it slightly possible to have a good guess at which one if male and which one is female due to tail size etc, or will both genders be the same when they are so young? wondering for myself as we have two hermans and are wondering if they are male and female due to the size difference, but the tails are the same length and they are the same age

[sandy]

Eggs are incubated at certain temperatures to get males or females. But its not one hundred
percent. You can have an educated guess (with experience) as to what sex a tortoise is.
The tortoise needs to be at least four or more to be one hundred percent sure.
I was sold a hatchling GG eight years ago, which was supposed to be incubated for female (frome a breeder)
she is a he<g>.

[saucysqueezy]

Originally Posted by sandy

Eggs are incubated at certain temperatures to get males or females. But its not one hundred
percent. You can have an educated guess (with experience) as to what sex a tortoise is.
The tortoise needs to be at least four or more to be one hundred percent sure.
I was sold a hatchling GG eight years ago, which was supposed to be incubated for female (frome a breeder)
she is a he<g>.

i must admit i hope henry and tarintino are both males, otherwise we may have made an error on naming them...!!!