General Care Discussion

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:30 am **Sexing a turtle with no tail**

Ok so I have always assumed that I have a male turtle and a female turtle. They are 10 years old and now I am not so sure :shock:

lol! Someone laid an egg a few years back btw!

The turtle in question has never had a tail. I believe the male (?heck I dont know

maybe female.. ahh!!!!) bit it off when they were tiny little babies (although I never saw any blood..). So the tail is just a stump. I need to measure them both again but I am guessing this one is about 8 inches. Very very short nails.

The other one is probably about 9 or 10 inches and has longer nails so I always assumed it was a male..but its bigger so I don't know

. Now I am thinking the tail is just bigger..only in comparison!

If you need pics,I will take some tonight. I don't have their tails in the pics that I have but they are pretty good about having their pics taken

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:08 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

How long are its nails? Long nails means a male

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:19 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

The tailless one has extremely short nails. I will put a picture of her up tonight.

Here is a pic of the other one with longer nails.

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:24 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

Males will have long nails like freddy kruger nails, half an inch or more. Females will have shorter nails, i'm gonna say like 1/4 inch long. If that helps out any.

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:33 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

So do you think the turtle in this pic is a female? (No wonder she has an attitude ..I always call her "he" lol)

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:53 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

It's hard for me to tell in that picture, any way you could get a pic of her out of the water with maybe her nails on your finger or just a clear picture of her claw....i have a habit of calling all turtles she since mines a girl lol.

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:23 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

Sure

I take some pics of them both tonight

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:31 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

The one I have been calling a female

The one I have been calling a male ..which I am starting to think I was wrong about for the past decade lol. Couldnt get a good pic of the nails or tail because this one is stressed out from a car ride. I just moved their tank from my old house.

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:31 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

grr my pics are getting cut off! I already resized them once!

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:31 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

Need to get pics of the front claws, unless thats the part the picture was cutting off.

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:35 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

They are short. They look just like the back ones. I guess that means I have a couple of females huh?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:45 am **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

Looks like it, poor girl

A shot of the cloaca, the opening on the underside of the tail would be more helpful.

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:55 am **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

You have a female. I can see where the cloaca ends and tail slightly starts. If it was a male the cloaca would be much farther out there.

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:12 am **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

The bigger one is probably a girl too then. The one with the nub is much nicer and doesnt mind her picture taken! No true with the big one! I will try again tonight and see if ..she..is in a better mood! Thanks for confirming the little one!

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:30 pm **Re: Sexing a turtle with no tail**

OK I have some pics of the second turtle in question (with the tail). This is the best I could do! You can see her nails are short but her tail is long (well.. in comparison)

General Care Discussion :: Sexing a turtle with no tail

Who is online