• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

sulcata vs. spur thigh???

J

jer4251

New member
Joined
May 6, 2004
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
42
Location
ohio
well i want a sulcata tortoise and i've seen some called sulcata's and others just spur thighed. from what i have found out the spur thighed are slightly smaller than the african spur tortoise (sulcata.) ??

what is the diff between the 2? i want the one that gets huge. what name should i look for?
 
There are two very different tortoises which are called spur thighs.
The Mediterranean Spur Thigh (Testudo graeca ibera) and the
African Spur Thigh (Geochelone sulcata)

The T. g. ibera reaches a size of around 8 inches while G. sulcata can reach 30 inches and weigh 100-200 pounds.
Due to the confusion of the names, as well as the extreme difference in the two, most people no longer refer to G. sulcata as spur thighs, but instead just call them sulcatas.

They are definately not a tortoise for the inexperienced. While not hard to care for initially, their immense size and need for large outdoor housing in which they will dig large tunnels, makes them much less suitable as pets for the majority of keepers.
Most people who want a sulcata see the little hatchling and have a mental picture of this awesome huge friendly tortoise. Unfortunately they often fail to consider the potential 75 year lifespan or the demands of keeping a tortoise which you cannot physically move without the use of hand trucks, and when living in the backyard will proceed to dig tunnels up to 50 feet long.
 
Back
Top