Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband found a pen. cooter crossing the road. We took a few pics and let it continue on its merry way after helping it cross a very busy street. I decided to research them a little more, how do you sex them is my big question? There was really no answer except that the claws are longer on the males. Is there any other way to tell i.e. concave plastron or shape of anal scutes? Very curious! Thanks.

Allegra

Male peninsula cooters will have swordlike front claws. They are often, but not always, smaller in size, with their carapace being somewhat more oblong as compared to a slightly rounder and more domed appearance of the female. Females also have a relatively small tale compared to body size with the vent being close to the body. The male has a longer, thicker tail with the vent being farther away from the body, more towards the tip. It looks like you have a female from the picture.

Thanks for the info, but we released it into the canal where it was headed. We picked it up trying to cross a very busy road, took a few pics and let it go. But I was curious about the turtle since I have redfoot torts, very different and interesting. Thanks again.

Allegra