Can two different species of desert tortoises from the same area interbreed?

Question

This is a serious question and no one's been able to give me an honest and direct answer.

Okay forget the diseases issues. I've read all about that. I separated my two different desert tortoises for 9 months and now they've been together for over 6 years and theyre both healthier and stronger than they ever were before and if there was some danger of intermixing disease it would have slowly showed up by now somehow.

Is there anything in history that shows they can interbreed? I'm assuming they're not of age yet and need to get about 8-16 years old in order to mate and lay eggs.


Can any two different species of tortoises interbreed at all?

To clarify. I have THREE california desert tortoises(I think thats what they are) that i received the first two from my ex in 1998 and a little one that i acqured last year. The 4th one I got in 2002 was a rescue tortoise. Later on found it outs an endangered species Gopherus Agassizzi but i had her for over 3 years when i found out(almost got run over by a truck in a crowded parking lot). They're all doing great and ive noticed their distince personalities too. Keeping them appart for 9 months was one of the only things i followed. I think most books get extremely paranoid when it comes to tortoises and diseases but i cant always blame them.
They're inside a huge glass enclosure that used to be a jewelry case converted into a vivarium. They have all the proper uva/b lighting , heat rocks and diet including what I use Mineral ALL with D12 vitamins. Hope they can interbreed would be nice.

Answer 1

From what I can find, there's no issue of interbreeding - Gopherus agassizii IS the California desert tortoise:

http://www.dtortoisecare.com/
http://www.sdturtle.org/CALIF%20DESERT_TEXAS%20TORTOISE_CARE_SHEET.htm

There is a record of them interbreeding with the Texas desert tortoise: http://www.deserttortoise.org/answeringquestions/appendix3.html

Answer 2

The definition of a species is that it cannot successfully interbreed with a different species.

There is no place in the US where two different species of tortoise overlap range naturally, but in situations that involve other species, you can get a 'suture zone' between two closely related species where interbreeding sometimes occurs. Usually either the offspring are sterile, or the two species are later determined to be related subspecies (different subspecies of a species CAN successfully breed).

The Desert tortoise (G. agassizii) is divided into two types, the Mojave and the Sonoran- there is no 'California desert tortoise'- all of your tortoises may be the same species.


Now... a few other details:

1. It is ILLEGAL to take desert tortoises from the wild, OR to repopulate them by yourself, or for that matter, to buy or sell them. California takes this law VERY seriously. You really should talk to someone about your 'rescued' parking lot tortoise, and possibly the others as well. I would suggest contact the local chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Cub at http://www.tortoise.org

2. If these guys are over 6 years old, they NEED AT LEAST a 4'x8' space EACH, and desperately need to be kept outdoors where they can burrow. Even a very large jewelery case would be way to small for them.

3. They will not successfully mate unless they can burrow and experience a cooling period. Cooling desert tortoises is rather tricky and takes some careful research.

4. You mention the books being paranoid? Sadly, they are not. This is a species that is absolutely not used to captivity and stresses out badly when kept caged and poorly treated. Disease, metabolic bone disorders, malnutrition, etc. tend to affect these guys even with good keepers.

Not yours you say? Are they showing signs of pyramiding- where the scutes on the shell are forming into raised pyramid-like shapes? That is a major sign of a long-term metabolic disorder that affects every internal organ before it shows up in the shell.

Are they sitting around inactively? Inactive desert tortoises are stressed since they cannot hide from predators or find cool, humid shelter in their deep burrows and tend to slowly dehydrate over years, loosing muscle mass, getting loose dry skin, getting lethargic, etc. Kidney problems are a huge concern at this point.

They may not look or act sick- but remember- wild animals almost always hide their signs of weakness to avoid becoming easy prey.

Please forgive the harsh tone, but this is a great species that is going extinct because of human actions, and one that really honestly makes a bad 'pet' for most people.

On the other hand, your set-up is not too bad for a smaller, more tolerant species, such as the Hermann's or Greek tortoises. You may want to give them a try instead!

Answer 3

Different Tortoise Species

Answer 4

I don't mean to be rude but why the he** would you first of all still own an endangered animal and then want to mate it and not even with it's own species to help the species repopulate but with another species altogether. Interbreeding happens in nature, it's how we get new species but I don't know that the issue can be forced and I KNOW in this case it definately should not be done. If you truly do have an endangered species of animal then it's your duty to turn it in to the proper people and for God's sake if you are going to mate the animal, mate it with another of it's kind not another species that wont help in the bringing up the numbers of it's species. You are very irresponsible to even think to keep it, let alone breed it with another species. We all have to take measures and do our part to ensure that any animals that are endangered or threatened in any way continue to thrive...not decline. Take the advice from the answer above and contact those people, you will be doing the responsible thing and making a contribution to nature instead of helping it to decline.

Answer 5

I honestly don't know, but find it great that you've ignored the "prevailing wisdom" of keeping different species apart. I have a Desert Tortoise and an African Pancake Tortoise living together and they're doing quite well. Good luck....I'll be keeping track of this thread to see if you have an answer.....

Answer 6

yes im pretty sure they can
BUT
it is very rare
AND
the eggs will not be fertile(so there will be no babies-unfortunatly)

Answer 7

Yes they can...