Reptile & Amphibian Forums

they are still very young, but i heard that when the bottom of the shell is flat, it may be a female. and when there is a slight upward curve towards the back of the bottom of the shell, it might be female...is this true?

I have 2 small hatchlings...but...one has a very straight/flat bottom of the shell...and is growing faster than the other one.

my second one has a slight upward curve on the back on the bottom of the shell...and is growing much slower than the other one.

do i have a male and a female?

Yes.You do have a male and female. Males have concave plastrons, elongated front claws, and thicker tails. I also have to hatchlings male and female.

Please show me a picture of a slider with a concave plastron. I have yet to see one. At about three to four inches in size is when I've seen sliders show sexual dimorphism, in the form of longer front tails in a male, and the longer, thicker tail. As already posted, the location of the cloaca in relation to the edge of the carapace is the best determination.

Katrina

Hi Katrina, I'm the 'Mom' half of this name and wanted to reply on behalf of my son's earlier answer about the males having a concave plastron. I have just searched the web and found many pictures of the male plastron and its slight concavity, but I won't post someone else's pictures here without their permission. Try a search and see what you come up with.

It's not just RES; there are many chelonia species with the same physiology and it has to with ease in mating. The male climbs on top of the female in mating and the concavity (usually more pronounced toward the rear of the plastron) helps with the process by allowing him better balance.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for trying to clarify, but I would still appreciate it if someone would list a website or post a picture of a SLIDER with a concave plastron. Box turltes and tortoises, of course the male has concavity. Even my male eastern mud turtle has a bit of a curve, but the muds are more rounded than the sliders and painteds. If you can instruct me on how to post a picture, I can post one of a very obvious male slider that does not have a curvature to his plastron. Over the years I've seen people say that all males have a concave plastron, but in some aquatics it's not true - can't count the number of people that thought they had a female slider due to this, but actually had a male. Tail is the best way to determine gender in any chelonian, as I've even had some male painteds with short front nails, likely due to previous nutritional and/or husbandry deficiencies.

Katrina

the sure way to tell is the placement of the hole (outlet)
on their tail. If the tail is short and the hole is close
to the shell it is a female. If the tail is longer and toward the tip further it is a male. The other ways of telling
are somewhat unsure but this is a sure way by placement on
their tails.

Hope this helps
Linda