Turtle how to divide male and female illustration, 2 strokes teach you to quickly identify the sex of the turtle

If you have a tortoise as a pet then you should be wondering if it is a male or a female tortoise, unlike many mammals tortoises do not have external genitalia so determining their sex is a little difficult but not impossible. The differences between male and female turtles are very slight, if you have two turtles of different genders then you can make comparisons to more easily spot the differences, if you only have one turtle you can look at its features to determine its sex.

Method 1: Observe the turtle’s shell

Adult females have slightly longer shells than adult males.

This method of sexing a turtle is limited because you want to make sure that the turtle is fully grown. You may assume that a turtle is male because of its small size, but it is actually a female turtle that is still growing. Large male turtles and small females may overlap in size, so predicting sex based on size alone may be inaccurate.

Observe whether the tortoise’s ventral armor is concave

Some tortoises don’t like to be touched and may try to bite, so grab the tortoise by the tail without letting it bite you and gently turn the tortoise over so you can see the ventral armor.Male turtles have slightly concave (curved inward) ventral armor, while females have flat ventral armor.This is because the concave ventral armor allows the male turtle to anchor to the female’s dorsal armor without falling off during mating, while the female’s flat ventral armor gives her more internal space to incubate her eggs.

Observe the turtle’s caudal ventral armor for V-shaped notches

The ventral armor of male turtles usually has a small V-shaped notch near the tail, this is so that the turtle’s tail will not be crushed by the base of the shell during mating.

Characteristics specific to certain populations

Some species of turtles have sex-specific external characteristics. Some species can be sexed by color, such as the American Box Turtle, where 90% of males have red or orange irises, while females have brown or yellow irises. Females usually have a higher, more rounded shell, while males have a lower shell that is more oval. Another example is the Sun Turtle, if the belly is blue, it is a male and if the belly is not blue, it is a female.

Method 2: Observation of details

Observing the claws of a turtle

Male turtles use their claws when mating with females, and in battles over and defense of their territory, so the claws on the front feet of male turtles tend to be longer than those of females.

Look at the cloaca of a turtle

Both males and females have an opening on the underside of their tails this is called the cloaca, its location is slightly different depending on the sex, the female’s cloaca is more rounded than the male’s, more star-like, and is positioned closer to her body at the base of her tail, the male’s cloaca is much longer and more slit-like, it’s located in the posterior third of the tail, towards the tip.

Observing the size of a turtle’s tail

Males have their genitals located in their tails, which are longer and thicker than those of females to accommodate them. Females have shorter, thinner tails. Note here that, as mentioned earlier, there is an overlap in the size of the tails of normally growing males and females, so determining the sex of a turtle in this way can sometimes be inaccurate.

Combining multiple features to draw conclusions

The best way to determine the sex of your turtle is to use a combination of the methods suggested above, if all the signs point in one direction then there is a good chance that you have accurately determined the sex of your turtle. If the characteristics are mixed and you can’t come to a firm conclusion, then it’s advisable to try again when your turtle is older. Because identifying the sex of a baby turtle is more difficult, you can effectively and accurately determine the sex of your turtle when it is fully grown.