Often the gender of the pet is decisive when purchasing it.
But if determining the sex of a dog or cat is not particularly difficult even for non-professionals, then determining the sex of a land turtle is much more difficult. Knowledge about the specific sex of a land turtle can be useful if the owner plans to breed them, and simply when choosing a nickname and selecting the placement of individual individuals.
The sex of a land turtle can be determined with great accuracy when the individual is already at sexual maturity. This is approximately 1.5-2 years. Gender can be determined by certain external characteristics.
turtle claws
If you carefully examine the paws of a reptile, you can see the difference between male and female individuals. Males have much stronger, thicker and longer claws than females. This is due to the need to fixate their body during the mating period. Females have small and blunt claws.
However, the length of the claws is not a 100% indicator for determining the sex of a land turtle. A reptile's claws can wear down throughout its life. It depends on the conditions in which the turtle lives and what kind of covering is in the aquarium, as well as the duration of its stay on land.
Other signs
In addition to the main signs of determining the sex of turtles, there are others that are less significant.
They are not so obvious and are often specific to a particular species. For the accuracy of the conclusions, it is worth paying attention to them
3.1
Head size and color
Male snapping turtles (silt red-cheeked, mud yellowmouth, musk turtles) have a larger head.
During the mating season, the color of the callagurs' head changes from gray to lighter, almost white, and a bright red stripe appears between the eyes.
3.2
Eye color
Males and females of some turtle species differ in eye color:
- male European marsh turtles can be distinguished by their brown eyes, while females have yellow eyes;
- The male half of Carolina box turtles have red eyes, the female half has brown eyes;
- The iris of male Spengler's mountain turtles is colored blue, while that of females is brown.
3.3
Nose coloring
The gender of representatives of some species can even be determined by the color of their nose. In male Indian yellow-headed tortoises it is red, in females it is yellowish.
3.4
Different behavior
Males are more mobile, especially during the mating season. They chase females, bite their necks, flirt with their claws, nod, and stage unique performances demonstrating their capabilities.
Sex determination by shell
Another way to determine the sex of a land turtle is by examining its shell - the plastron. If the turtle has a concave plastron, as well as prominent skin growths on the thighs, the so-called femoral spurs, then it is a male. He needs these skin growths to stay on the female during mating.
The female is characterized by a flat shell. In all female individuals, the concavity is almost invisible or completely absent. The male can be identified by its concave abdomen, and the female by its flat or slightly convex abdomen.
Examination of the back of the shell will also help determine the sex of the pet. The male's carapace in the tail area is strongly curved towards the ground. The shell completely covers its tail. Females have a small tail and are completely visible from under the shell.
Females capable of mating are characterized by the presence of visible tubercles on the shell. Males also have similar tubercles at an early age, but as they grow older these tubercles smooth out. Males that have reached sexual maturity have no tubercles and a smooth carapace.
In addition, the shells of male and female turtles differ in shape. In males, the shell has an oblong shape. In females, on the contrary, the shell is wider and rounder.
Adviсe
- Sex can be recognized after puberty.
- A reliable option would be to make comparisons across multiple animals. Sometimes some signs are similar in turtles of different sexes. It is better to check pets based on several factors.
- Living conditions in animals sometimes cause hormonal imbalance. Then only a veterinarian can determine the sex.
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InhabitantsWhat to feed omnivorous and herbivorous land turtles at home?
What to feed your reptile at home
To begin with, it is worth determining which of the three categories the turtle belongs to by type of nutrition, distinguishing it in order to understand what ratio of plant and animal food the animal should receive and what to feed it. List:
To properly feed turtles, you need to study what they eat in nature.
Predatory
80% plant and 20% animal.
- Main food: lean fish, beef or chicken liver (once a week), seafood and small mammals.
- Additional: dry food, insects, shellfish, amphibians and invertebrates.
- Prohibited: meat, fatty fish, milk, cheese, bread, fruit, dog or cat food.
Omnivores
50% plant and 50% animal. Everyone loves to eat.
Main food: for aquatic animals – fish, seafood and algae; for land animals - mice, fruits, vegetables and land plants.
Herbivores
95% plant and 5% animal.
- Main food: greens, vegetables, fruits.
- Additional: non-poisonous mushrooms, dry food, raw sunflower seeds, bran.
Simply bathing her in the bath a couple of times a week is enough to keep her hydrated.
The diet of turtles largely depends on age
Article information
Pets
In other languages:
English: Tell If a Turtle Is Male or Female, Español: saber si una tortuga es hembra o macho, Deutsch: Das Geschlecht einer Schildkröte bestimmen, Português: Saber Se uma Tartaruga É Macho ou Fêmea, Italiano: Capire se una Tartaruga è Maschio o Femmina, Français: déterminer le sexe de votre tortue, 中文: 区分乌龟的性别, Nederlands: Het geslacht van een schildpad vaststellen, 日本語: カメの性別を見分ける, : Čeština: Jak poznat, zda je želva samec či samice, Bahasa Indonesia: Membedakan Jenis Kelamin Kura Kura, Tiếng Việt: Nhận biết Rùa Đực và Rùa Cái, Türkçe: Bir Kaplumbağanın Erkek Veya Dişi Olduğu Nasıl Anlaşılır
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How to take care of turtle eggs
Laying turtle eggs
Like other reptiles, turtles, after laying eggs, forget about their offspring, and if the little turtles were not born completely independent, they would have had a hard time. Therefore, you will have to take care of turtle eggs. Remove them from the container and place them in an incubator, the temperature of which must be set at 28-30 degrees.
Therefore, place them in the incubator carefully and in the order in which they were in the nest container (you can even label them with a marker). If you do not have a special incubator, you can use an ordinary glass jar or other glass container, which you fill with sand and moisten it regularly
Such a homemade incubator can be heated using an incandescent lamp or by installing it next to central heating radiators
If you do not have a special incubator, you can use an ordinary glass jar or other glass container, which you fill with sand and moisten it regularly. Such a homemade incubator can be heated using an incandescent lamp or by installing it next to central heating radiators.
How to tell if turtle eggs are fertilized
Unfortunately, even if a turtle has laid eggs, this does not mean that they are fertilized and small turtles can be born from them. To prevent you from heating empty eggs in an incubator for several months, you can check whether there is life in them.
To do this, build a primitive ovoscope device for yourself - place a small electric lamp in a small cardboard box (you can use a light bulb from a flashlight), and cover the top of the box with a lid in which a hole will be cut, reminiscent in shape of an egg, but smaller, than the size of turtle eggs. After this, to check the egg, place it on the lid above the hole and turn on the light bulb. There is no need to turn the egg. If the egg is fertilized, then there will be a noticeable darkening in its center, but if the egg is empty, it will transmit light evenly. By the way, the longer the egg ripening period, the more accurate the result of such studies. Empty eggs do not need to be heated, but fertilized eggs must be carefully placed back into the incubator.
How to find out the gender of an aquatic red-eared turtle, the distinctive features of males and females
Finding out the sex of a red-eared turtle acquired in infancy is problematic until it is fully mature. This is due to the fact that babies grow at the same pace. A conclusion can be made only at the 2nd year of life, when gender characteristics appear in reptiles.
Let's figure out how to determine the sex of a red-eared slider based on external and behavioral characteristics.
Second way
The reptile's shell represents its unique passport, provided that it was provided with good care, properly fed and provided with enough living space.
In this case, the concentric rings on the carapace will indicate a certain number of years she has lived. These rings first appear on the turtle’s shell when it reaches one year of age, and for the first two years of its life, the grooves of the rings are marked quite dynamically, adding two or three every six months.
To do this most accurately, you need to count the number of rings in different parts of the carapace and display the average result.
Reliable determination of a pet's age
It is not difficult for a specialist to determine its age just by looking at a reptile. But what should inexperienced owners do when they get such an unusual pet? You can use several methods - measure the length of the carapace, evaluate the nature of its pattern, the shape and color of the shield.
Method I
It's not 100% correct, but it's still worth a look because it's fairly easy to do.
Initially, it is important to find out whether the turtle is male or female, which is not so easy to do, especially if we are talking about a young individual. And only after this can you measure the diameter of the reptile’s shell and compare the data obtained with basic information:
- in the first year of life, the size of the carapace in red whales is 6 cm, regardless of gender;
- in the second year of life, the diameter of the armored shield of females increases to 9 cm, of males - to 8 cm;
- by the 3rd year, the carapace of females grows to 13-14 cm, and in males its length does not exceed 10 cm;
- in the 4th year, the size of the shell of males and females increases on average by 2 cm;
- in 5-year-old individuals, the length of the carapace is 18 cm in the case of a female, and 14 cm in males;
- at 6 years, the female’s shield increases by 2 cm, the male’s by 3 cm.
When a reptile reaches 6 years of age, its shell grows to its maximum size, and subsequently its diameter remains practically unchanged. Even if this happens, the increase is insignificant, and gradually the growth stops completely. The size of the carapace of a red-eared turtle is associated with the following factors:
- variety of diet;
- the size of the aquaterrarium;
- living conditions;
- the absence of hibernation or the presence of this period.
If you take into account such nuances, it is easy to understand that errors, often quite significant, cannot be avoided in calculations. Having obtained data in this way, you can correct the result using another technique - the most reliable.
II method
This method is based on determining the age of a reptile from the image on its carapace. Experts consider a turtle's shell to be its individual identifier, comparing it to a human fingerprint.
If the turtle eats well and lives in suitable conditions, then the shield pattern will be unique. But when a reptile lives in an unsuitable environment, is injured, becomes dry, or experiences other difficulties, its scutes can become deformed and peel off, which negatively affects the pattern.
There are a number of concentric rings on the shell that indicate its age. They appear in individuals after the first year of life, and then become intense during the 2nd and 3rd years. Every 6 months there are 2-3 more rings, after which the process slows down, and then only one ring appears per year.
If you count the number of rings, it is easy to find out how old the four-legged swimming pet is. Even if he came to a new home already as a large, adult individual. To get an accurate figure, you need to count the rings and take the average result. And in this case, some discrepancy with reality is possible.
III method
This method is based on assessing the color of the carapace - the intensity of the shade changes with age. The younger the individual, the lighter and calmer the color of its shell. After 4 years his tone becomes darker. Older red-eared turtles have an almost black shield, and this also applies to the rings.
As the reptile matures, the carapace becomes regular, oval in shape, and its surface becomes smooth, which is not the case in young animals. Young turtles are more active, energetic and inquisitive, they move more and climb everywhere. Old individuals are sedentary and phlegmatic; they can often be found resting. But such signs are observed not only in turtles, but also in other creatures - old age manifests itself in the same way in almost everyone.
It is worth noting that if the pet was purchased when it was still small, then there is no particular need to calculate its exact age. The main thing is to distinguish between the needs of young, adult and elderly reptiles and provide suitable food and amenities. But, regardless of age, the red ear needs clean water, ultraviolet rays, warmth and maintaining certain parameters of both water and air. This is the key to a healthy, long and fulfilling life for your pet.
Many animal lovers have problems when it comes to determining the gender of a pet, but if the differences in the structure of primary sexual characteristics in cats and dogs are more or less clear to all of us, then the task of finding out whether a red-eared slider is male or female can baffle anyone.
Fortunately, in reality everything is not as difficult as it seems.
Features of behavior
It is especially possible to determine the sex of red-eared turtles during the mating season. Behavioral characteristics indicate that each pet belongs to one gender or the other. During the mating season, the activity of males increases sharply. They organize all sorts of demonstrations to demonstrate their capabilities. At the same time, they actively swing their front legs, with much larger claws than the females have. During this period, they constantly chase females and make attractive head movements.
If someone is seriously involved in breeding red-eared turtles, then this article will be very useful, since at an early stage, before they are ready to reproduce, turtle pairs can be formed. In addition, such knowledge will help to correctly and accurately name pets, which is very important for many owners.
In pursuit of something unusual, it has recently become fashionable to keep exotic animals such as snakes, boa constrictors, chameleons, etc. at home. This list also includes many species of turtles, including the red-eared slider. All of them are representatives of the tropics and require special attention and special conditions of detention.
It is very important that all those who want to have a red-eared turtle at home understand that it also needs certain conditions, without which it simply cannot live. In addition, this is a very expensive business, since the turtle’s diet must be varied, otherwise it will not be able to develop normally due to lack of nutrients.
