tortoise, male or female?

Question

how to know if a tortoise is male or female. help..!

Answer 1

In true tortoises, the rules are:

Males-
- In-curved belly shell (plastron)
- Longer, thinner tail
- Cloacal opening (vent) near the tail's tip

Females-
- Flat or out-curved plastron
- Short wide tail
- Cloaca near tail base

The relative size of the males and females changes based on species- in general, the more likely the males are to fight for females, the bigger the males are than the females.

Also- don't try to sex a tortoise until it hits sexual maturity- 4 to 8" depending on the adult size. No one who knows what they are doing will guarantee the sex of a young tortoise.

Answer 2

look at the bottom of the shell...for turtles and tortoises if the concave is inward like it could fit atop another shell, then it is probably a male and if the concave is bowed outward like the inside of the animal is making room for eggs than it is probably a female. This is a general and inexpensive way of checking but not 100% sure. The only true way is to check with a vet or to try mating a bunch and watching.Clickity Clack!

Answer 3

I don't know if it's true for all turtle and tortoise species, but I've heard that if the underside of the shell is bowed inward that is a male, bowed out is a female (she needs room to develop eggs).

Answer 4

In general, males have longer front claws, longer tails, and a concave plastron (the bottom shell has a bowl shape to it). Females usually have shorter front claws, shorter tails, and a flat plastron (bottom shell). For box turtles, males often have red eyes and females often have brown or yellow eyes but not always. Male box turtles are usually larger than females. For aquatic turtles, females are often the larger sex.

Answer 5

Flip them over and take a look at their tail. If it's long, it's a male, if short it's a female. Also, females tend to be smaller than males.

Answer 6

I would suggest you look up info on your particular type or tortoise. Sometimes, you can from the tail length, sometimes you can from the shape or the bottom shell, sometimes you can tell from the legnth of the front claws and sometimes coloration or size, or even ryr-color can help you tell, but they all vary greatly from one species to the next...

Answer 7

males have longer tails