The size of the shell
There are pretty clear differences in size between most male and female pet turtles. However, these differences may not be obvious until the animal reaches sexual maturity (and diet can also play a role in their size). For males, sexual maturity is roughly the time they reach 4 inches in length (and roughly 2-5 years). Females are sexually mature when they reach 6-7 inches in length (which can take 5-7 years). Many types of turtles, even sea turtles, are sexually dimorphic due to the difference in size between males and females. But, in order to reliably use carapace size as a factor in determining the sex of a pet turtle, you must also know its age.
The underside of a turtle’s shell is also used as an indicator to determine a pet turtle’s gender. Male tortoises have this concave (curved) part while females have it flat. This allows the male tortoises to mount the female more easily and gives the females more space to keep the eggs.
Pet Turtle Claw Length
If you take a look at the claws on the front legs of a pet turtle, you will notice that females usually have short, stubby claws the same length as their toes. Males, on the other hand, have much longer claws on their front legs. This is because males use their claws when trying to woo females to reproduce. During mating, males will also grasp the female’s upper shell using their claws.
Their tail
The most common way to tell the gender of a pet turtle is by looking at the length of its tail. Female tortoises have short, thin tails while males have long, thick tails, with their cloaca positioned further towards the end of their tail compared to a female. Of course, it is easier to sex a turtle when looking at the length of its tail if you have multiple tortoises of both sexes to compare.
Brands and coloration of the pet turtle
Depending on the species we have, we can find different marks and colorations that help us identify the gender of our pet turtle.
By xhersilda
Use diet as an indicator
It is not a reliable method, but the food preferences of females often change when they are pregnant. If we control the food that we offer them and we know what they like the most, we will be able to observe these changes.
Taking into account all these sections we can know if our pet turtle is male or female.
