General Care Discussion :: Confirming sex and shell health

[ElectricTurtle]

So I finally let Tesla roam around my room for a while and managed to get some good close-ups of him. I'm personally pretty sure he's a boy based on the guidelines, but I wanted more opinions to be sure. I also took some pictures of his shell to see if anyone thought something looked wrong possibly.


He seems to have very long claws.


Cloaca shot.


The two white dots on his shell were there when I got him. I think it might be because he was wedged in something. They seem to get smaller everyday. There's some other splotches too, but they might be because he's shedding.


Belly shot. His belly is dark in some spots and he's shedding down there too. I hope that's normal.
EDIT: By dark spots, I mean in the yellow area. I know the brown dots are normal.

Opinions? Please and thank you.

[steve]

You have a boy. Those markings will get darker and splotchier too.

[ElectricTurtle]

Ah okay. Thanks, Steve.

I feel bad asking such noobish questions, but I guess it's because I am not completely a master of turtle stuff yet. Glad my intuition was right on him being a boy. Would suck if I had to provide a nesting area and watch for eggs. XD (I would still love it though).

[steve]

No prob. Males do get penile prolapses though so you can watch out for that.