Reptile & Amphibian Forums

O.K., when I posted weeks ago on my three-toed box - that he/she would not leave the water dish, I was told how to determine what sex the turtle is.

The turtle is probably just a little under 1.5 yrs of age.

One thing that some of you said is that females have dome-shaped carapaces. I goofed up on what was meant by "dome-shaped" - I thought when one said "dome-shaped" one meant "taller". My thought now is that you guys meant that the cross-section of the carapace looks more like part of a circle than a that of a males.

Someone said red eyes means female. Is that correct? If so, what color are the eyes of males?

I know that shorter tails means female, but I need a turtle of the opposite sex about the same size to really determine this - all I can do now is just guess.

When I spoke with the vet at the zoo, he said something about the where the vent is in relation to the tail, but I've forgot what he said about that.

I know females have flatter plastrons, but don't know whether one would see a difference at this age

The major differences between box turtle sexes are:

PLASTRON- Male's plastron is concave (dished in), female's is flat.

HIND CLAWS- Male's are long and curved, female's are small and fairly straight.

EYE COLOR- Males often have red eyes, females usually have brown. This is not true 100% of the time, and I think male triunguis often have brown eyes. Adult males of triunguis often have a red cast to the entire head, though.

TAIL- The male's tail will be longer and thicker, and the extra size will be mainly in the pre-anal portion. So, a female turtle will have her vent right next to the body, and a small tail protruding behind that; a male will have a thick portion of tail protruding from the body, then the vent, then some more tail- this means that the male's vent will be about on a line with the rear edge of the carapace, or even out beyond it, while a female's vent will be well within the edge of the carapace.

(The tail characteristic is true for most turtle species, not just box turtles).

Now, all of these things take time to develop. I'm not sure how old or how big your turtle will have to become before these characteristics are evident. Generally hatchlings and small juveniles would group as "females" judging by the characteristics used above, regardless of their true gender.

Bill, female box turtles' shells, in general, ARE taller and more dome-shaped. Think of it as an adaptation for holding eggs. Males are more flat or laterally compressed. This is a general trend, and can vary amongst individuals.

Firm secondary sex characterisitcs(all very well laid out by the previous poster) haven't shown up in my triunguis until they were at least 4 inches...some later. In my opinion, this is the most difficult T.c. to sex. You have to examine several dozen individuals in person before you can make any sort of accurate prediction. Watch for "grooving out". The centermost plastronal scute growth will begin to recede into the body of the animal, forming a very slight groove in the very center of the plastron. The problem, some females can groove a bit and some males(especially triunguis) don't have much of one.

It can be tough. Good luck. Maybe it will fan its penis during a nice warm soak. That should settle it.

Keep posting pictures. Some of us can determine sex fairly easily.

The red eyes are a male characteristic--I had read that males might have brown eyes but that females never have red eyes. The undershell is the easiest way for me to tell--flat as a piece of paper means female. It can be tough, although box turtles are a piece of cake next to salamanders!

Well, I did look closely at the eyes this morning - just big enough that I think I can determine their color: brown.

And from the experience observing my female slider and male painted, I'm betting the tail on this little three-toed would fit into the "small" category.

Thanks to all who helped.

I too have heard that Three-toeds can be a challenge to sex.

I would also say that ANY yearling/juvenile box turtle will a challenge to sex.

Really, you have to look at the classic indicators in aggregate: I have female Easterns here with concave plastrons, some with red eyes, some with thick tails, some with thick hind claws, some with flatter carapaces than some males.

I have a turtle here that was as big as, if not bigger than, most of the adults: didn't have a particularly long or thick tail, had reddish brown eyes like several of the females, hind claws weren't obviously thicker than the females', plastron was slightly concave, skin a fairly uniform brown, carapace not very colorful at all. I named it Pat because I just wasn't 100% sure about its gender. I had it here for over a year before it finally settled the matter by fanning his penis. Turns out that, as big as he was, he wasn't fully grown (he's HUGE now...may be a record setter for VA).

Go figure.

I think that you'll just have to wait to be sure.

With Cookie I wasn't sure either. I met a turtle last summer that was exactly her size, the owner knew when that turtle had hatched & said the turtle was 4 years old in the summer of 2007.
I then assume that Cookie is about the same age.
I have not been able to tell for certain if she is male or female because she isn't a full grown adult.

My 2 males Chip & Hobo told me she's female.
Hobo & Chip saw one another a couple of years ago when Chip was up on the porch and Hobo was on the ground walking by. When they saw each other they both knew that they were seeing another male. They were ready for battle immediately.. shocking to me to see how they reacted from such a distance.
I showed Cookie to each of them separately last summer & I knew for sure that she's female because both males reacted quite amorously towards her. No fighting stance from either of them when they saw her.LOL
With my baby Kibbles, I'm waiting for her/him to grow a little more then I'll do the Chip/Hobo test again.
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PHRatz

Hey! I'm seeing a niche industry here! People could bring their young boxies to you, and you could have Chip and Hobo sex them for their owners. You could charge a small fee so that Chip and Hobo could pay for their keep! (That would be good for the turtle's self esteem too!)

Lol!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

I'm just loving diva's post

>>Hey! I'm seeing a niche industry here! People could bring their young boxies to you, and you could have Chip and Hobo sex them for their owners. You could charge a small fee so that Chip and Hobo could pay for their keep! (That would be good for the turtle's self esteem too!)
>>
>>Lol!

Bwahahahahahahaha
This is what we all need, that one clever idea that makes millions. lol
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PHRatz