It’s a Boy! I was FLASHED!

[Cicitina]

A few weeks ago I posted thinking my tortoise was beginning to look male, his tail is getting quite long and thick and has a long slit. Everyone was still sure it was too early to tell as he is no more than 2 years old.
Well, when putting him in his bath today he flashed me!
Afterwards he made two squawking sounds at me and got into a silly stance that looked like he was getting to charge me like a bull.
Is he reaching sexual maturity and will his behaviour start to change?

Photos of Poe taken during todays soak, I’d like to think he has a very beautiful shell

 

[Yvonne G]

You're right. He is very beautiful!

 

[Cicitina]

You're right. He is very beautiful!

Thank you I’m very proud of him

 

[zolasmum]

Thank you I’m very proud of him

He is really handsome - but I'm sure you were terrified when he prepared to attack you ! I think it will be quite a long while before he fully matures, but he will probably start making advances to inappropriate objects fairly soon - actually that can be quite entertaining to watch !
At least you know now you won't have the worries you would get with a female, like becoming egg bound.
Angie

 

[Cicitina]

He is really handsome - but I'm sure you were terrified when he prepared to attack you ! I think it will be quite a long while before he fully matures, but he will probably start making advances to inappropriate objects fairly soon - actually that can be quite entertaining to watch !
At least you know now you won't have the worries you would get with a female, like becoming egg bound.
Angie

I was very worried about the eggs as a friend of mine with a turtle found out hers was a female when it required surgery to remove some eggs.
I look forward to watching him fully mature now and get rowdy with the objects in his enclosure. Is it recommended to remove items or add items for them at this point?
I don’t want him tipping himself over trying to mount something he wouldn’t normally

 

[zolasmum]

I was very worried about the eggs as a friend of mine with a turtle found out hers was a female when it required surgery to remove some eggs.
I look forward to watching him fully mature now and get rowdy with the objects in his enclosure. Is it recommended to remove items or add items for them at this point?
I don’t want him tipping himself over trying to mount something he wouldn’t normally

I think you just have to wait and see what he is interested in - if he gets too passionate with something for too long, you might want to take it away for safety, and then add something new to distract him- red is a very popular colour for love objects, I have found. But you never know !
Angie

 

[Cicitina]

I think you just have to wait and see what he is interested in - if he gets too passionate with something for too long, you might want to take it away for safety, and then add something new to distract him- red is a very popular colour for love objects, I have found. But you never know !
Angie

He definitely is attracted to anything red,orange or pink. The second I put anything down with those colours he charges it, ever since he was a hatchling he’d run towards them. I thought I should avoid adding those colours to his enclosure because he nips at them, I didn’t think it was good for him.

 

[zolasmum]

He definitely is attracted to anything red,orange or pink. The second I put anything down with those colours he charges it, ever since he was a hatchling he’d run towards them. I thought I should avoid adding those colours to his enclosure because he nips at them, I didn’t think it was good for him.

You are probably right that red is a bit over the top for him - I once got some tiny child-size red Crocs shoes for Zola to play with, and he got very over-excited - I had to take them away. I am sure you will come across lots of things to try. Good luck
Angie