Red-eared turtles are amazing and funny creatures that today are found not only in natural environment but also in many home aquariums. The popularity of these pets only increases with time. They are sweet, daring, agile, not averse to quarreling with their relatives and building a hilarious face. Of course, reptiles are different from the more common pets - cats, dogs, parrots, they require special conditions for keeping and feeding. In addition, they raise a lot of questions among novice owners, for example, it is not always clear why they behave one way or another, and even the sexual difference of individuals often remains in question. . How to determine the sex of red-eared turtles, what to look for?

Unfortunately, it is not so easy to distinguish a male from a female, and even a specialist will not be able to choose the kids of the right sex among the young. More or less obvious signs appear only during puberty of individuals.

Redworts can breed from 6-8 years of age, it is during this period that sex differences are most noticeable. But indirect signs are also present in 1.5-2 year old turtles, and if you compare them all, you can find out the sex of your pet.

The owner, who is tormented by the question of the sex of the reptile living in his aquarium, should pay attention to a number of physiological characteristics these reptiles.

claw length

In males of this breed, however, like most representatives of other varieties of turtles, the forelimbs are equipped with elongated claws. Females also have them, but their length is much more modest, and there are no points at the ends. The male uses them during mating, holding the female with them, excluding the possibility of slipping.

There is one caveat - when living in an artificial reservoir, the turtle can grind its claws on an island of land. In this case, it all depends on the material from which this section is made.

Features of the carapace

When determining the sex of a reptile, you can also take a closer look at the armor in which its torso is packed. In order for the fertilization process to be most successful, in males the surface of the plastron - the abdominal shield, has a slight concavity. Females do not have this feature.

There are also differences in the shape of the carapace - in males it is more oval, elongated, in the tail area it resembles a pointed check mark. In females, part of the shell near the tail is rounded, here you can also see a hole of a decent size, which is necessary for the trouble-free laying of eggs.

Condition of the tail and cloaca

Since the male reproductive organ of turtles is located in the tail, this part is wider and longer in males than in females. The location and shape of the cloaca also signal the gender of individuals. In females, it resembles an asterisk-type polygon and is close to the carapace. In males, the cloaca is located a little further from the carapace, and its shape is quite common, resembling a straight line.

Other sexual characteristics

If turtles of the same age live in the same tank, then you should try to find out the gender of the reptiles based on their size. Females are larger individuals - nature has taken care that they can bear offspring and make a full clutch.

Experienced breeders or zoologists are able to distinguish between boys and girls by the muzzle - in the male it is more elongated, and in the female it is blunt, with smooth, rounded lines. It is natural that we are talking about an indirect sign that an ignorant person is unlikely to be able to notice. On the limbs of males, noticeable spurs on the hips can be found, which indicates their strength and stability, when compared with the paws of females.

Behavioral features

Most animals have a character during mating games changes, and red-eared turtles are no exception. By some habits, you can understand which gender this or that individual belongs to. First of all, at this time, the males become more active, more active and mobile. How else? After all, the primary task is to attract the attention of a female ready for mating. To do this, they arrange real performances with a demonstration of their own capabilities and advantages.

If an individual starts waving its front paws with long, large claws in front of another turtle, then there should be no doubt - this is a male. In addition, gentlemen at this time become incredibly intrusive and literally do not allow the “brides” to pass, while making enticing, playful head movements.

Video how to determine the sex of red-eared turtles

Why know the gender of a reptile

When breeding these domesticated reptiles, knowing the sex of individuals is necessary, because if you miss this moment, you may not get stable pairs of redworts that are ready to give offspring. Turtles begin choosing a mate long before they reach sexual maturity. And if you place small heterosexual individuals in the tank, you can expect the appearance of small turtles later.

Another nuance - male red-eared turtles they are quite aggressive towards their fellows and can inflict serious injuries on opponents. The reasons for this behavior are related to their territoriality, and even outside the mating season they are unfriendly. In addition, any pet must have its own nickname, and reds too. And how to name a reptile without a specific gender?

Exoticism never ceases to attract people and makes them make incredible decisions - to start snakes, boas, crocodiles, alligators and other incredible, and sometimes dangerous animals. Among such inhabitants, the red-eared turtle looks more than modest, and it may seem that it is very unpretentious and tenacious. But redheads are still reptiles with all the ensuing consequences.

The owner needs to provide the pet with suitable conditions and get acquainted with the breed characteristics before purchasing. Otherwise, it will be difficult to understand what this turtle likes and does not like, and whether it is a boy or a girl.

The ancient reptile keeps many secrets under the shell. If you decide to give a name to a charming turtle, then first you should find out its gender. Today we will talk about how to determine the sex of a turtle by obvious signs!

By disguising itself as an inconspicuous stone on land and in water, the tortoise outlived dinosaurs that were too flashy and poorly adapted to change. Extreme vitality and funny appearance made it a favorite with exotic lovers. And why, in fact, HER? Maybe a male reptile lives in an aquarium or a box in your house? It's not that easy to figure it out!

Today we will try to uncover the secret hidden under the impenetrable "house", explaining how to find out the sex of the turtle, whether it is land or sea. By the way, despite the similarity and belonging to the same "family", these species have enormous differences not only in terms of habitat!

The turtle is one of the oldest animals. It has inhabited our planet for over 220 million years.

How to determine the sex of land turtles: the main signs

External "sexual" signs appear in turtles upon reaching maturity. Talking about how to determine the gender land turtles, we will only talk about adults. So, to determine the gender, you need to carefully look at the pet, turning it and examining all the parameters. There are 2 main "indicators" of the turtle's sex:

  1. Plastron - the lower (abdominal) part of the shell.
  2. Tail.

Females have a completely flat plastron. You can see this by turning the turtle over. The male has a distinctly concave plastron, which is quite understandable and justified if we remember exactly how mating occurs in these reptiles.

The sex of a land turtle can also be recognized by its paws: the claws of males are an order of magnitude longer than those of females.

Helps determine the sex of tortoises and compare their tails. So, in males, the tail is longer, and on the plastron near it, a pattern in the form of the letter “V” is visible. In addition, males are the owners of pronounced femoral spurs.

How to determine the sex of red-eared turtles: 5 sure signs

Red Ears are strikingly beautiful and always seem to be a little embarrassed. Scarlet spots on the head - distinguishing feature, which gave the name to the red-eared turtles. To find out the sex of the "rubber", you will have to carefully observe its behavior and external attributes.

In adult males red-eared turtle longer tail, "girls" have a shorter tail

Do you want to know exactly how to determine the sex of red-eared turtles in order to accurately identify "girls" and "boys"? Look out for the following 5 signs:

  1. Look at the ponytail! The male is longer and thinner. In the red-eared female, the tail is wider, since the oviduct is located in it.
  2. The anus of the female is closer to the carapace - the upper part of the shell.
  3. Males are much more active and show a violent temper in the presence of relatives, demonstrating their superiority and chasing females.
  4. The diameter of the opening between the carapace and the plastron is larger in females, as they lay eggs.
  5. Sexually mature "girls", as a rule, are much larger than their peers "boys".

The turtle represents invulnerability, immortality, wisdom and longevity. Now you also have some turtle wisdom, because, thanks to new knowledge, determining the sex of a reptile has become a completely solvable problem!

When buying a turtle as a pet, the first thing, of course, is to come up with a name for it. The choice of name depends on whether you bought a female or a male. That's just how to determine the sex of a turtle?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to reliably determine the sex of a turtle when buying - it is still too young. Usually the difference between males and females in most turtles, which are kept as pets, becomes noticeable only at the age of 6-8 years, when the length of the shell reaches 10-11 cm. But even under these conditions, determining the sex of a turtle can be difficult for a layman.

You can determine the sex of a turtle by some external differences between males and females, and this can be done much more accurately if you have the opportunity to compare two turtles. In females of most land and part of aquatic turtles, the plastron (ventral shield of the shell) is flat, while in males it is concave. In some species of turtles (for example, in Chilean ones), the distance between the plastron and the carapace (the dorsal shield of the shell) is greater in females than in males.

In males, the shell often has a more elongated and narrow shape, while in females it is shorter and more rounded.. It is also worth paying attention to the cloaca. In females, the cloaca is located at the end of the carapace and looks like an asterisk; in males, it is located further from the edge of the shell and looks like a longitudinal line. In most turtles, females are larger than males because they need to carry their eggs, but in some species of turtles, on the contrary, males are larger.

You can try to determine the sex of the turtle by the tail. In males of almost all species of turtles, it is longer and thicker than in females.. By the length and thickness of the tail, one can determine the sex of two-clawed, painted decorated, radiant, coal (red-footed), elastic, spur-bearing, South African beak-chested, box-shaped (bordered, Amboin, Indochinese), oblong, Burmese, small cruciform tortoises, as well as Spengler's mountain tortoise, toothed kynyxes, elsei, Forsten's turtles, marsh turtle Muhlenberg. In females of the forest kinix and the Indian lobed turtle, the tail is almost invisible, while in males it is pronounced.

Also, in males of some land turtles, femoral spurs are better expressed. A in many species freshwater turtles males have long claws on their front paws, while in females they are much shorter. These include, for example, a painted decorated turtle.

In some species of turtles, males differ from females in the color of the iris.. So, in males of the Carolina box turtles the iris is bright red, while in females it is only slightly reddish. In Spengler's mountain turtles, females have brown eyes, while males have blue eyes.

Indirectly determine the sex of the turtle will help her behavior. Males have more pronounced sexual behavior than females. They chase females, flirt, bite their necks, nod their heads, puff their throats, etc. But if your turtle lives in splendid isolation, this method is unlikely to help you.

Also, many species of turtles have their own specific features that make it possible to distinguish a male from a female. How to determine the sex of red-eared turtles? In this case, pay attention to the claws and tail. Males have longer claws and a longer and thicker tail, as well as a sharper and a long nose. Male red-eared turtles are noticeably smaller than females.

At European marsh turtles females are also usually larger than males. The plastron is flat or slightly convex in females and slightly concave in males. Also, males can "boast" a thicker and longer tail. Pay attention to the color of the turtle's eyes: in males, the eyes are usually brown, and in females - yellow.

Already familiar criteria will help determine the gender Far Eastern tortoise (Chinese trionyx). In this species of turtles, females are more massive and larger than males, but males have a thicker and longer tail.

Unfortunately, determining the sex of a turtle before it has reached sexual maturity (which takes several years) is very difficult and sometimes impossible. Yes, when the turtle reaches sexual maturity, this task may not be possible for a non-specialist, especially if there is no one to compare the turtle with.

The red-eared tortoise is a very cute pet that requires a minimum of attention and care, it looks great in the photo and pleases the kids with its friendliness. Therefore, the owners often try to breed these reptiles by crossing them with each other. The question of determining the sex of the red-eared turtle in this case plays a very important role. important role. However, this task is not easy at all., and its solution causes difficulties even for specialists.

The easiest way to do this is comparing two opposite-sex creatures.

This is clearly shown in the video.

Then the differences can be seen clearly and most correctly determine the gender of the turtles.

  • The length and shape of the claws

Adult males that have reached the age of five have long curved claws, pointed at the ends. While in females, the claws are short and not at all sharp. If you look closely through a magnifying glass, you will notice that their ends are rounded.

This sign must be considered in conjunction with the others, since it cannot be considered completely reliable. In some turtles living in a terrarium with hard ground, the claws can simply wear off. In this case, they will change both the length and the shape. And the male can easily be mistaken for a female.

  • Shell differences
How to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle? - the plastron will help - abdominal part of the shell.

Nature made sure that the mating of reptiles took place effortlessly, giving males the concave shape of this part of the shield. It is inside the plastron that the genitals of turtles are located. And thanks V-shape the abdominal part of the male is securely fixed during mating on his partner. In females, the plastron is completely flat and has no notches.

The shape of the shell itself can also tell who is who. The males sport a narrow, elongated shield, while the ladies wear more rounded and shorter houses.

  • Tail and cloaca

In females, the tail is so shorter than the male that it can be seen with the naked eye. In addition, the form of this formation differs. The tail of the "boys" has a large thickening near the base and a thin pointed tip. In females, the tail is even along the entire length, without thickening, the end has a rounded shape.

In the red-eared turtle, the cloaca is located on the tail, and its location can also tell the sex. The anus of males resembles a thin line, located in the lower part of the tail. In females, the cloaca is zigzag, similar to half a star, located near the base.

Detailed story on this topic

Additional external signs

If you are still unsure which gender your pet belongs to, evaluate other definition criteria:

  • The diameter of the hole between the dorsal and ventral parts of the shell. In females, it is noticeably larger, because it is they who lay off future offspring.
  • Body dimensions. Girls are always larger than boys by about a couple of centimeters. If a five-year-old female reaches 17–19 cm in length, then the male will not grow more than 15. By the age of 6, the length of the female is on average 19–21 cm, and the male is only 16–18.

Behavioral Features

Try watching red-eared turtles at a pet store or on video.

You can easily distinguish males by their demeanor. Boys are more active and curious, they are constantly moving, trying all the available items by heart, sticking to girls. This is manifested by the fact that the male catches up with the possible partner he likes and tries to lightly bite her neck. The boyfriend invites to mating by fluttering his claws right before the eyes of the female.

Males constantly “nod” their heads like Chinese tangerines.

In addition, "men" compete with each other, trying to drive the opponent away from their territory or from the female. It almost never comes to a serious fight, but males can push and bite for a long time, until one of them retreats, leaving the battlefield for a more successful competitor.

Age determination

This reptile lives about 55 years, it reaches sexual maturity by 5-6 years.

It was at this time that her gender should be determined. How do you know how old a pet is? It's not hard to do knowing her dimensions:

  • In a year, the length of the carapace is 5–7 cm;
  • at 2 years old - 9cm;
  • at 3 years - from 11 to 14 cm;
  • at 4 years - 13 cm males and 17 females;
  • at 5 years - 15 and 19cm.

Determining the sex of an exotic animal can be difficult. This applies to frogs, fish, lizards and turtles. On the one hand, it is not necessary to know what gender your pet is if he lives alone. And if you have two of them and you want to get offspring? Here it will be necessary to understand.

Usually you can only determine the sex of a woman when she has reached puberty. Closer to six or eight years. And the length of the shell by the time you decide to recognize your pet as a boy or girl should be about eleven centimeters. But in the process of finding out gender, you will have to work on comparative analysis received data.

How to distinguish the sex of red-eared turtles?

In principle, for all turtles there is one system sex determination. Only for the red-eared, it begins to act when they are a little over a year or two, and the length of the shell is nine to ten centimeters - the version for males, and the age is from three to eight years with a length of chitinous cover up to eighteen centimeters - for females. Here is a little guide on how to find out the gender of red-eared turtles. You can use this list at home, without torturing your pet on the way to a specialist.

The first thing you should note when studying pets is that the claws on the front paws of males are longer and stronger than those of female red-eared turtles. First, the boys arrange a “seduction dance” with them in front of their “girl”. And then strong claws will serve well during mating, when the male will have to hold on to the shell of his “girlfriend”.

The second feature is the concave part of the ventral side of the shell in males and the flat part in females. This evolutionary feature makes it easier for males to mate when they are on the side of the female's back, where the shell is particularly strongly arched.

On this we have not finished talking about the bone cover. On examination, note that in males it has a more elongated and elongated shape than in females.

The next feature .: males are distinguished by a long and thick tail so that the reproductive organ can hide there. But the females have a small tail, and the oviduct hidden in the cloaca does not thicken it at all.

And the cloaca in males and females is located unequally. In girls, it is closer to the edge of the shell and looks like an asterisk. And in the opposite sex, it is a little further and looks like a longitudinal line.

Another way to tell the sex of red-eared turtles is to look at the hip spurs. In males, they are more pronounced.

Do not forget about the size of the turtle. Boys are slightly smaller as they don't have to carry eggs. Even in males, the posterior end of the plastron (the abdominal part of the shell) is sharper and looks like latin letter V, and in females it is rounded and forms a hole, the diameter of which is larger than in males. Also, the nose of males is longer and has a sharper shape.

The easiest way to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle is to observe the behavior in mating season. Males become terribly active. They chase the female, flirt with her, nod their heads. Sometimes they show aggression towards her, bite her neck. Another sign in behavior is that males twist the genitals during defecation or during manipulations in the back of the body.

Now you are armed necessary knowledge and you can conduct your own "investigation" to find out the sex of your pet. Turtles are very calm and lead a measured lifestyle, so it is not difficult for them to follow them. You will be happy with the babies they give you.