How do I know if my turtles are male or female?

turtles
Lucia C asked:

I have three turtles, 2 chineese and one is called yellow turtle (dark green with yellow stripes) They live in the same tank but i would like to know if their gender has something to do with the number of spots they’ve got under their shell. Thanks! I’m desperate because I have them all male names!!

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9 Responses to 'How do I know if my turtles are male or female?'

  1. Joseph C - January 29th, 2010 at 8:43 am

    Give them some neutral names until you can find out.

  2. latran t - February 1st, 2010 at 1:09 am

    1. Tails: Male’s are longer and thinner, with the vent (cloaca) nearer the end. Females are shorter and wider with the cloaca nearer the base.

    2. Plastron: Male plastrons (belly shell) are incurved, females are flat or outcurved.

    3. In some pond turtles, the male’s foreclaws are longer.

    4. In some box turtles, the males have red or orange eyes ot the females duller yellow or brown.

    5. In some tortoises, the plastron under the chin is more protusive.

    6. In most turtles the males are smaller and often more colorful.

    In real life, you cannot tell this on small or young turtles- most of the time they have to be about 4″ long to determine.

    Points 5 and 6 are tough unless you can average it over several turtles.

  3. beau n - February 2nd, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    type your turtle species in a search engine and then look for a care sheet and they will tell u how to *** them

  4. Golden - February 2nd, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    go here and look at the pictures:

  5. copperhead - February 5th, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    See this website – scroll down the page to “Is My Turtle a Boy or a Girl” for info: .

  6. hermitcrab911 - February 6th, 2010 at 9:51 am

    Latran is correct on this one.

    I always went by the underbelly portion. If it curves inward then it shall be a male, flat or curving outwards it is a female.

  7. mindtelepathy - February 6th, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    Tell them each a joke. If HE laughs, its a male. If SHE laughs, its a female. If neither, then its a rock that resembles a turtle.

  8. jason c - February 9th, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    Take them to a vet if it is that important to you. They can tell you and then you can name them appropriately.

  9. Madkins007 - February 9th, 2010 at 2:21 pm

    1.) You really need to figure out exactly what kinds of turtles you have so you can give them the good care they deserve. There really is not a turtle called either the ‘Chinese turtle’ or the ‘yellow turtle’, although there are Chinese box turtles, yellow-belly sliders, and so on.

    You can find good photos of many kinds of turtles in the World of Turtles forum at They also have good care sheets there.

    2.) It is really hard to tell the *** of young turtles, but, once they are big enough, look for:
    MALES:
    - Longer, thinner tails
    - Vents about 1/2 down the tail
    - In-curved belly shells (plastrons)

    FEMALES:
    - Short, wide tails
    - Vent near the base of the tail
    - Flat or out-curved plastrons

    There are other things we can use in some species, such as most sliders have long front claws if they are males.


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