# How to tell



## B K (May 21, 2011)

Ok I see a lot of post on what is it a male or female but not much on how to tell. What are you looking for. Can someone explain How to tell?


----------



## Terry Allan Hall (May 21, 2011)

Adult males have considerably larger/longer tails and frequently (but not always) have concave plastons. Youngsters are considerably more difficult to sex.

See for yourself:


----------



## Az tortoise compound (May 21, 2011)

Terry Allan Hall said:


> Adult males have considerably larger/longer tails and frequently (but not always) have concave plastons. Youngsters are considerably more difficult to sex.
> 
> See for yourself:



For the younger animals I look at the anal scutes (tips) and what direction they are growing. Growing down (toward the tail)= female and growing out (toward rear legs)= male

Some times you can look at the cloaca. If it's center of body it's usually a female. If it is off center at all it's a male. 

I use all of these ways together to determine sex in pics. If the animal is in front of you, warm running water on the plastron will usually get a male to flash you even if very young. If that doesn't work you can always give them a tickle while the water is running.


----------



## ticothetort2 (May 21, 2011)

So what would your guess be on this guy??






I've heard male...


----------



## bikerchicspain (May 22, 2011)

Looks like a male to me, Its got a slit not a star


----------



## B K (May 22, 2011)

bikerchicspain said:


> Looks like a male to me, Its got a slit not a star



Can you eplain slit not star and a picture would be great.


----------



## yagyujubei (May 22, 2011)

Looks like a male - right now -I think he needs to mature a little more. All of mine look the same as him and I sincerely hope that I don't have 7 males, I'll blow my brains out. Give him another year, he'll be 7 or 8", and hopefully it will be apparant, but until then_ IT"S A BOY!!!!!


----------



## Yvonne G (May 22, 2011)

It looks male to me too. I'm going by the direction the anal scutes are pointing.


----------



## DixieParadise (May 22, 2011)

Male was my guess due to the anal scutes as well. Great pics and great info, thanks.


----------



## Tom (May 22, 2011)

yagyujubei said:


> Looks like a male - right now -I think he needs to mature a little more. All of mine look the same as him and I sincerely hope that I don't have 7 males, I'll blow my brains out. Give him another year, he'll be 7 or 8", and hopefully it will be apparant, but until then_ IT"S A BOY!!!!!



Don't blow your brains out! Adult male pp are like gold. Very hard to find real ones, and if you do find one, nobody wants to part with it. If you end up with 7 you'll be able to make some really good deals or breeding loans.

Here's all the things I look at when trying to determine sex.
Tail size and length.
Tail carriage. Meaning how they carry the tail. Off to the side, tucked in, or sticking out.
Cloacal opening size and shape.
Position of cloaca on tail. Middle or toward the end.
Plastron concavity or not.
Shape of anal scutes and direction of growth.
Shape and size of gular scutes.
Head size and shape.
And behavior can be a good indicator too.

All of these things are subjective, but viewed all together, a picture will usually start to emerge. Juveniles can be tricky and things often change as they mature. Adults of most species are usually pretty easy to tell. One way to really know for sure is to see them extend their penis or lay some eggs. 

All of my Gpp, related to Tico, look very much the same right now. I'm not seeing ANY dimorphism either. That could mean that they are all the same sex OR that they just aren't showing any dimorphism at their young age.


----------



## Az tortoise compound (May 22, 2011)

emysemys said:


> It looks male to me too. I'm going by the direction the anal scutes are pointing.



Me too


----------



## bikerchicspain (May 22, 2011)

B K said:


> bikerchicspain said:
> 
> 
> > Looks like a male to me, Its got a slit not a star
> ...



The tail of a female part from being smaller, it's cloaca is in a star shape where as the males tail is longer and the cloaca is more of a slit than a star..


----------



## Terry Allan Hall (May 22, 2011)

bikerchicspain said:


> B K said:
> 
> 
> > bikerchicspain said:
> ...



How accurate is "star" vs, "slit" when sexing very young tortoises?


----------

