Sexual characteristics of turtles. How to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle, small or large. What conditions should a pair of turtles create

Many began to get a variety of pets, quite rare and interesting, whose homeland is the distant tropics - these are boas, and snakes, and crocodiles, and pythons, and turtles. In most cases, a harmless turtle is preferred, which leads a calm and measured lifestyle, especially since the cost of its maintenance is minimal. Very often, based on such considerations, they give birth, which leads mainly an aquatic lifestyle.

Turtles can be attributed to centenarians among many animals, up to 50 years. As for home maintenance, everything will depend on how home content will be close to natural. If she is properly looked after and kept clean, then she can live 30 years or more, especially since it does not require any exceptional care, but some subtleties should be known. Firstly, you need to know how old the acquired turtle is and only then decide on the conditions of keeping and rational nutrition.

It is most likely that the turtle will be bought at a pet store and the seller must tell her age. This is necessary in order to decide on nutrition, as it may differ depending on age.

Behind the eyes red-eared turtle there are spots that are not related to the organs of hearing. Throughout life, these spots change color from scarlet to burgundy.

A young tortoise has a streaked green shell that fades and darkens as it grows and matures.

You can focus on the age of the turtle, knowing the size of its carapace. But again, at home, especially favorable conditions, the turtle can grow somewhat faster than in nature. Moreover, there are many subspecies of turtles that have a different ratio of shell length in relation to age.

How to reliably determine the age of the red-eared turtle

For non-specialists, there are several ways to determine the age of their pets: by the length of the shell and the nature of the pattern on it, by its shape and color.

First way

Despite the fact that there is a possibility of error when determining the age of a reptile by the length of the shell, you still need to know about this method.

To begin with, you should find out which pet the pet belongs to, which is also not so easy to determine, especially at a young age, and then you can start measuring and compare your results with the base ones. It will look like this:

1. The first year of life of pets is characterized by the same size of the shell, which is 6 cm.
2. The female in the second year of life has a shell 9 cm long, and the male 8 cm.
3. In the third year of life, the female's shell is about 14 cm long, and the male's shell is up to 10 cm.
4. By the fourth year of life, the female's shell grows to 16 cm, and the male's shell - 12 cm.
5. By the age of five, the female has a shell 18 cm long, and the male - 14 cm.
6. At six years of age, the female boasts a shell length of about 20 cm, and the male - 17 cm.

We can safely say that by the sixth year of life, the turtle has a shell that will have the same dimensions as it grows further.

Sizes can increase, but not significantly, and then the turtle shell will stop growing at all.

For the size of a shell big influence provided by the following factors:

• Diet variety.
• Aqua terrarium dimensions.
• Conditions of detention.
• Does the turtle hibernate?

Therefore, this method has a serious error and is of little use for pets. In this case, you can use another method, which will strengthen your assumptions based on the first method. Although it is more complex, it is more reliable. The basis this method- This is the determination of the age of turtles by the pattern on the shell.

Second way

A tortoise shell is like a human fingerprint: it is unique, unless, of course, the tortoise is in good conditions, she has a varied diet and enough space for an active lifestyle.

On her shell there are concentric rings indicating her age. Rings begin to appear after she reaches 1 year of age, and then actively appear, in the first 2-3 years. For every six months of life, 2-3 rings are added, after which this process begins to slow down and, each year lived by the tortoise, is evidenced by one ring. By counting the number of such rings, you can easily determine the age of your pet. To be more precise, the age of the purchased pet, since each owner can later accurately determine the age of the turtle, adding to the age of purchase, the years that the turtle lived directly with the owner.

To make more accurate calculations, you should count the number of rings and display the average result. As can be seen from the description of the second method, it also gives some error, so you can make a mistake if you don’t know exact date emergence into the world.

Third way

The third method is based on the fact that in the process of growth the color intensity of the tortoise shell changes. The younger the turtle, the lighter and more delicate its coloration. When they reach four years of age, the tortoise shell begins to darken. Until this period, age rings have the same color, and with the darkening of the shell, the rings also darken. At the turtle old age has an almost black color, the rings have the same color.

As they grow, the shell of turtles begins to acquire the correct oval shape, to become very smooth, which cannot be said about the shell of a young turtle.

The fact that the turtle is already quite a few years old can be evidenced by its lifestyle. At a young age, the turtle is more mobile and curious, which indicates the presence of a large supply of energy. The closer to old age, the less and less energy, the turtle begins to lead a sedentary lifestyle: it moves less and rests more. These signs are characteristic not only of turtles.

In conclusion, we can add that it is not so important to know the age of a turtle if it is bought very small. The main thing is that the turtle feels comfortable, that its conditions are close to natural, and that the diet contains foods rich in all the necessary nutrients. Plus, this is attention and care, constant monitoring of cleanliness, which comes down to regular water changes, otherwise the turtle is unlikely to live long, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to determine its age by its shell.

To get offspring in a turtle, sex determination is especially important. But since these animals do not have a pronounced sexual characteristic, it is difficult to unequivocally say where is the “boy” and where is the “girl”. Therefore, being the owner of such an exotic animal and wondering how to distinguish the sex of a turtle, you will have to be especially observant, paying attention to the study of distinctive external characteristics his pet and the peculiarities of his behavior in a group of relatives.

How to distinguish the sex of a turtle: general nuances

How to distinguish the sex of a turtle by external signs

Carapace and plastron

The carapace of males is more elongated, elongated in comparison with the carapace of females. The ventral side of the tortoise shell (plastron) is one of the most characteristic signs by which you can quickly and easily find out the sex of the animal. One has only to turn the turtle over - and there will be noticeable differences: the back of the plastron in the male is slightly concave, while in the female it is flat, which ensures the convenience of mating these animals. True, this applies only to sexually mature individuals, whose shell length reaches 11 cm. In most species of turtles, males are usually smaller than females.

Tail, cloaca and claws

Nature has endowed male turtles with tails that are longer and wider at the base than females. An additional definition will be the shape of the tail. In males, the tail is usually bent towards the ground, while in females it is very short and straight.

In the female turtle, the anus is located closer to the upper part of the shell and the tip of the tail and has the shape of an asterisk, while in males it is in the form of an oblong line. Another distinguishing feature of these animals is the claws. In males, on the front legs, they are usually much longer than in females (with the exception of panther tortoises, which are the opposite). In male box turtles, the claws are thickened on the front paws and curved down on the hind paws.

Head

Males of the Carolina box turtle have a red iris of the eyes, and in female bog turtles the eyes are yellowish and dark brown in males, which in this type can also be distinguished by a whitish upper lip. TO distinctive features female turtles also have more developed jaws than males. Male red-eared turtles have a pointed muzzle with a longer nose than females.

How to find out the sex of a turtle: behavior analysis

To determine the sex, it would be ideal to observe your pet in the company of his relatives. Male turtles are more active and pronounced, especially in mating season, aggressive behavior, and females usually tend to hide their heads in their shells more often. In the company of their own kind, male turtles show increased aggression: they bite the paws of females and fight with shells with other males. During the mating season, the male actively flirts with the female: he scurries in front of her muzzle and specifically shakes his head.

The question of the sex of the turtle may rise at a time when its future owners wish to try their hand at breeding these animals. However, scientists have already found that it is extremely difficult to determine the sex of reptiles correctly. difficult task, and sometimes completely impossible, since in nature there is an exception for everything.

As you can see, it was not for nothing that she was called red-eared.

This statement applies mainly to frogs, fish, lizards and, of course, turtles. One of the most popular questions among turtle lovers is how to correctly determine the sex of a red-eared turtle.

Basic rules for determining the sex of red-eared turtles

Immediately you need to discuss one point related to the most optimal age, when it is easiest to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle. The optimal period is from five to seven years of age. If an experienced naturalist can find out the sex of a red-eared turtle earlier, based on his own experience, then a novice reptile breeder will not be able to do this.

Basically, all buyers of red-eared turtles are based on a comparison of three morphological features of animals:

• turtle tail;
• plastron shapes;
• animal claws.

In the first case, the length of the tail of two individuals is compared. Males tend to have longer tails, while females tend to have shorter tails. At the same time, males have a thick tail at its very base, and closer to the tip, this part of the body narrows. In females, the tail has neither a thickening nor a noticeable sharpening at the end. They have a more rounded shape. This criterion is one of the most common among breeders.

When determining sex according to the second rule, it is necessary to pay utmost attention to the turtle's plastron. This education refers to the back of the shell. Since the genital organs of turtles are located in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe plastron (or rather inside it), using its shape it is possible to determine the sex of the animal.

In boys, the back takes on a concave appearance. This form is perfect for mating with a female at the time of fixation of the inseminator on the selected female representative.

The females themselves do not have any noticeable changes in the back of the shell. It has a fairly flat surface. The third feature in determining the sex of red-eared turtles is the length and shape of their claws.

In males, this part of the body has an extremely elongated shape. In this case, the claws themselves may be slightly curved. Females have practically no claws, and their length is noticeably less. If you look closely at the claws themselves, they look like rounded, not pointed.

Turtles.

However, using the third rule can be very wrong. Over time, in a turtle living in an aquarium, the claws grind off on hard ground and can change their shape. If the turtle is still too young, then comparing its claws may not bring the desired result. It is better to wait until the reptile is at least 5 years old.

Additional rules for determining the sex of red-eared turtles

If during the establishment of the sex of the animal there are no exact assumptions, then you need to refer to additional recommendations that are based on:

• on comparing the body sizes of turtles;
• on comparison of the shape of the posterior end of the plastron of both individuals;
• on the correlation of the anal openings of animals.

Based on the first rule, it can be understood that the female should be noticeably larger than the male. This is due to the fact that the first must have the appropriate conditions for the successful bearing of future eggs.

The plastron has always been a key part of the turtle's body, from which it is more likely to determine the sex of the reptile. In males, it is clearly seen that the end of the lower part of the shell has a pointed shape, reminiscent of the Latin letter "V". In the case of females, the end of the plastron is more rounded and does not stand out in any way.

The last thing that can clarify the situation with the sex of the red-eared turtle is its anus. In boys, this part of the body is located closer to the pointed tip of the tail. In addition, the shape of the hole itself resembles a longitudinal line. In females, the cloaca, on the contrary, is closer to the base, and its shape is very similar to an asterisk.

The behavior of red-eared turtles as a criterion for determining sex

If for some reason you cannot distinguish between a male and a female red-eared turtle, it is recommended that you first select one individual. When she grows up a little, you can more clearly verify her true gender. After some time, you will develop the ability to determine the sex of a turtle by its behavior.

However, for such comparative analysis you need to have experience of keeping two individuals. In a pet store, it is also desirable to observe heterosexual reptiles.

Many experienced breeders claim that females are much calmer than males. The fact is that males are used to moving around very actively and tasting everything that comes across in the aquarium. They have very noticeable sexual behavior towards their chosen one.

Owners of red-eared turtles can watch as the male tries to catch up with the female, trying to bite her on the neck. Experts also note that males can be distinguished by their active nodding of the head.

There is one more additional, but very controversial sign, by which it will be possible to clarify the overall picture with the floor of the turtle - this is the shape of its muzzle. In no case should it be considered as the main feature, since it has not yet been fully confirmed by zoologists in practice. In males, the muzzle has the most pointed shape than in the female - this is the main postulate of this rule.

- These are terrarium pets that do not require complex knowledge in the care and maintenance at home. But the difficult moment is determining the sex of the red-eared turtle, because you need to make sure that it is a boy and a girl.

IN early age it is difficult to determine the female. Red-eared turtles reach maturity only at 7-8 years after birth, then they begin to clearly manifest characteristics and it becomes easier to determine the sex of the baby.

How to determine the sex of a red-eared turtle

It is possible to distinguish the sex of red-eared turtles by outward signs that are present in every individual of this species. The main differences between the sexes of animals:

• Differences in the color of the shell.
• Type and size of the tail.
• Reptile nose color.
• Animal shell size.
• The location of the cloaca.
• Head.

A detailed examination of some signs helps to determine the female or male among several animals.

claw length

On the hind legs, the claws are blunt in both animals. The male is longer and sharper.

Males use their claws to attach to their partner's shell during breeding.

This method does not reliably help to find out the sex, because the claws of young reptiles are not fully formed, and a mature animal grinds off a manicure on hard ground.

Paws

In male reptiles, femoral spurs protrude on the paws, and small scales are also located on the hind limbs.

Shell features

To determine the sex of a red-eared turtle, look at the ventral part of the shell (plastron). Males are concave, females are not.

The protective element in turtles of different sexes is different. The carapace of males is long, forming the Latin letter V in the tail section. In the female, the carapace is rounded and large, for carrying eggs. A special hole at the end - for postponing.

Males are smaller than companions. Some types are exceptions.

In females, the color of the plastron is different, in males it is blue.

Tail and cloaca

The most reliable factor in determining gender. In males, the process in the back of the body is long, and the base and tip are wide. Females are characterized by the presence of a short tail uniform in length.

The cloaca of the female is located closer to the base of the tail and resembles an asterisk. The anal opening of the reptile is wide, for laying eggs. The cloaca of the male is more like a longitudinal line, which is located in the back, closer to the tip of the process.

By behavior

The female is calm. She rarely moves around unnecessarily.

Males, on the other hand, are aggressive. When breeding, the female is pursued. They try to attract attention to themselves by biting the female on the neck, and often nod.

During mating games, males tend to squeak, attracting females. Some females are able to make the same sounds, so this feature is uncertain.

Other signs

For each type of reptile character, a special color of the iris. In heterosexual aquatic turtles eye color is different.

The female has a yellow nose. The male one is pointed and small.

The head of the male is larger with a longitudinal stripe of a reddish hue, which acquires a rich bright color during reproduction. The upper jaw is whitish.

A rare way is a blood test and radiography. Until the age of seven, it is pointless to apply the method. Males have not yet formed testes, and females have ovaries. Upon reaching puberty, the boy is distinguished by a blood test, in which there is elevated level testosterone. Ultrasound helps to determine the female during the formation of follicles.

• Gender can be recognized after puberty.
• A reliable option would be to make comparisons of several animals. Sometimes some signs in heterosexual turtles are similar. It is better to check pets for several factors.
• Conditions in animals sometimes cause hormonal failure. Then only a veterinarian can determine the sex.

If you are not going to breed red-eared turtles, it may not matter to you at all which of the red-eared turtles - a boy or a girl - lives in your aquarium.

For everyone else, I will now tell you how to find out the sex of a red-eared turtle with a large percentage accuracy. This can be done when the male and female reach sexual maturity - as a rule, at the age of 6-8 years, with a body length of 9-10 cm. Until this time, it is very difficult to understand who is who. Guided by certain features of a particular sex, a male from a female can be distinguished by the following features.

First of all, look at the tail of the animal. It is longer in males than in females. Turn the turtle upside down. The cloaca of the male is located further from the base of the tail, and the cloaca of the female is at its very base, right under the shell. Now pay attention to the shell. Its abdominal part, called the plastron, has in the female red-eared turtle almost flat surface. The male has a concave shape, which allows him to stay on the female during mating.

Photo from Turtles.ru

Another sign that will tell you how to find out the sex of a red-eared turtle is that that the muzzle of the male has a more pointed shape, and its claws are much longer than those of the female, which again is associated with mating. However, this fact should not be considered indisputable, since the male can grind off his claws on pebbles or stones of the terrarium.

You can accurately determine the sex of the red-eared turtle during mating games. The male actively flirts with the female, “looms” in front of her muzzle, stretches his paws forward and up and often shakes his head from side to side.