I had them when I as a kid ….. with my decision to get turtles I could keep outside here year around , I got 7 hatchlings ………… this guy will be 6 this season ….. my question on when and how they could be sexed that went unanswered seems to have been answered , at least as far as male , the black lip being male and the light lip being female , definitely not always , red eyes indicating male , not appearing that way on what seems to be a female at this point ……. what I did notice , once their plastron went concave none of them became un-concave before the tail seemed to confirm they were males ……. I read they are easy to raise , I think terrapene are easy to raise , I think cuora were easy to raise , I think glyptemys are easy to raise , I think rhinoclemmys are easy to raise , I thought elongata were easy to raise , I thought geochelone were easy to raise , not that i actually think any are "easy" to raise long term , but these I've had to work harder at raising than any of the others ……. as hatchlings they are obviously more sensitive to water conditions …….. I notice this on their shells every late winter or spring , vet tells me it's bacteria growing on the shell from being underwater all winter without sunlight ? it does clear up over the summer , so I tend to buy his theory ……. any other opinions , experiences ? there is about 2 months difference in the pics , all 3 pics are the same turtle …… you can see the spot on his shell as a hatchling , out of 10 I bought 5 came with health issues , so it doesn't seem to be just me …………. their activity over our winter here in northern ohio really is astounding …..