Any guesses on sex?

inkling13

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Hey everyone, long time no see. It's been a while since I've posted anything on here (although I do lurk and read posts now and then). My two redfoots, Tortellini and A'tuin are doing well, still cheekily stomping around their enclosures and eating everything in sight. Now that they're a little older I'm curious if anyone can help me confirm their sex.

I've had Tortellini for about five years now and she just measured in at 10 inches long (plastron length). Her previous owners had been told they bought a male but I've always thought female due to the shape of her anal scutes. However, until I get a glimpse of more than a tail or eggs start appearing, I'm not confident in my guess. She does have a bit of an hourglass shape and a dip to her plastron though, so if she is female she's got some masculine traits. I've read that the shape of the cloaca slit and the thickness of the anal scutes can help determine sex too so I tried to get decent pictures of those as well.

tortellinicarapace.jpg tortelliniplastron.jpg tortelliniplastron2.jpg tortellinitail1.jpg tortellinitail2.jpg tortelliniplastron3.jpg

A'tuin I've had for two and a half years and he (?) now measures in at 8 inches long. A'tuin was a craigslist rescue and had a nasty case of shell rot when I got him. He's recovered from that and growing like a weed but if his plastron looks a little funny it's probably the scarring from the shell rot you're noticing (the yellow areas). Here's a link to the thread that covered that whole situation http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-rescue-with-shell-rot.93474/ Anyway, I originally thought A'tuin was male because his anal scutes seemed at a wider angle but now that he's 8 inches long and still no hourglass, dipped plastron, or flash of parts I'm thinking female.

A'tuincarapace.jpg A'tuinplastron1.jpg A'tuintail.jpgA'tuinplastron2.jpg A'tuinplastron3.jpg

Any and all guesses are appreciated! Thanks in advance :)
 

Yvonne G

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I'm notoriously bad at being able to tell male from female in the RF/YF species. We'd better wait for RF keepers who are better at it than I.
 

MPRC

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My household (of 2) voted - We can't agree on the top. He says boy, I say girl. Bottom we both think looks female.
 

inkling13

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That's kinda where I'm at too but it's great to get confirmation others have a similar opinion. I've see-sawed so often one way or another on my guesses that I'm tempted to take long term bets on whether or not they'll eventually surprise me with eggs or a pervy flash of junk :p All in all it doesn't really matter though. They live in separate areas and I have no intention to breed them. It just feels weird that after caring for them for years I can tell people all about their history, dietary preferences, and even their bowel movements but I have to shrug when it comes to which pronouns to use.
 
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