With the acquisition of an exotic animal, it is difficult to immediately determine its sex. If your pet lives alone, and you do not plan to look for a couple, then a similar question may not excite you. In the case if there is a desire to buy a second half for his red-bellied turtle , then the question of how to find out her sex will be very relevant. To do this, the owner of a reptile needs to know several important nuances.
How to distinguish the sex of the red-bellied turtle?
To determine who is the same: a boy or girl lives in your home, you need to wait until the turtle is sexually mature. This happens in 6-8 years. During this period, the length of the shell reaches 11 cm in order to accurately know the sex of the tortoise should carefully observe its appearance.
So, the first characteristic that distinguishes males from females is the presence of long, strong claws. This is due to the fact that the sexually mature male will have to perform the dance in order to win the heart of the female.
The second thing that needs to be paid attention is the ventral side of the shell. In females, it has a flat form, in males it is concave. This feature is also provided by nature for better mating of turtles. Bone cover in males is much longer.
The next feature is the presence of a long and thick tail in males, because the sexual organs of red-bellied turtles are hidden there. Regarding the female, the hidden oviduct in the cloaca does not affect the size of its small tail in any way.
It should also be noted the size of the turtles: the females are larger in size due to the necessity of bearing offspring. The nose of the males is longer and sharper than that of the female. Definitions of the sex of red-bellied turtles are very interesting and observant process. In the mating season, one can note the high activity of males, flirting, pursuit of the female.