I unexpectedly acquired a young (~1yr) CB Spotted Turtle recently that was "supposed" to be a female. The person who originally purchased it said the breeder claimed it was (would be) a female, but I had my doubts when I first saw it (it was ~3in CL then). It has since grown a bit and has now clearly developed male secondary sexual characteristics (plastron concavity, tail thickness, cloacal position, eye color).

Now here is the strange part... When I first got him (for free) he was housed with several small/young Midland Painted turtles. Some of these were females and he began getting very frisky with them. This didn't really surprise me as it pretty much seems to be par for the course with male turtles. He has since gotten his own enclosure, but I recently purchased an 07 CB female for him. Although young, she is already showing pretty reliable characteristics of a female. At any rate, I've read how aggressive male C. guttata can be, so I decided to introduce them very slowly. He seemed very curious at first and slowly followed her around. She is very alert and active and did not seem too concerned about him, so I allowed them increasing (supervised) access to each other. He has since seemed to lose interest in her and I am now housing them together.

Anyone had similar experiences with introducing male and female Spotteds? After how actively he chased and mounted the Painted turtles, I thought for sure he would go to town on this little female. Maybe he recognizes that she is immature (though I think he may be as well) and so he doesn't bother. I wonder if he is picking up on (or not picking up on) some hormonal scent cues? That said, I wonder if this could quickly and without warning change on me?

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