Thoughts please :)

[Amanda :)]

Do any of you amazing people have any suggestions on wether teeny is male or female? May not be able to tell but worth a try

Thank you

 

[dmmj]

Right now I would say female, but it could change with time.

 

[jwhite]

I would also say female.

 

[dmarcus]

I would say female but that your tortoise is still young and that could change as it gets bigger...

 

[Utah Lynn]

Female

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, there's always one that has to give the other answer. On the testudo species, the seam between the anal scute and femoral scute is indented on a male and straight on a female. So I'm going with male.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Well, there's always one that has to give the other answer. On the testudo species, the seam between the anal scute and femoral scute is indented on a male and straight on a female. So I'm going with male.

Wow, good eye!

 

[jojodesca]

Hello,

This is some information I have also asked and during my research I have found a lot of information that basically leads to this conclusion...First off, the male turtle usually tends to have a concave plastron (bottom shell)....The reason for this is because he has to stay on the female's carapace (upper shell) to breed....It would be rather hard to do this task if the shell was flat.... He would be slipping and falling off of her..... Another attribute the male has is a much longer and thicker shell, then that of the female....The anal hole is also usually past the carapacial rim (end of shell)....He must slide his tail under hers to copulate.

 

[Thorpy]

Male!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Hello,

This is some information I have also asked and during my research I have found a lot of information that basically leads to this conclusion...First off, the male turtle usually tends to have a concave plastron (bottom shell)....The reason for this is because he has to stay on the female's carapace (upper shell) to breed....It would be rather hard to do this task if the shell was flat.... He would be slipping and falling off of her..... Another attribute the male has is a much longer and thicker shell, then that of the female....The anal hole is also usually past the carapacial rim (end of shell)....He must slide his tail under hers to copulate.

Those are rules about plastron and carapace shape are good in general, but don't seem apply as well to Russians. Both male and female Russians tend to have flat plastrons, and both tend to be roundish in shape. The tail and vent are the most reliable indications in all turtles, and they are often all we have to go on with Russians. I was, however, unaware of the differences in seams that Yvonne described. There may be some other differences, but they often don't appear until they are adult, like head shape, behavior, etc.

BTW - Interesting to note that the posterior carapace of female Russians seems a bit flatter than those of other species. Perhaps this is why the plastron of males can still fit even though it's not concave.

 

[Yvonne G]

Male!

Hi Thorpy:

Won't you take a few moments to start a new thread in the "introductions" section and tell us a bit about yourself?

 

[Amanda :)]

Thank you all for your replies, so half are saying female and half are saying male! I'm still a little confused but I'll wait until he/she is older

You're all fab

Amanda

 

[lynnedit]

Is there a 'size' you can be fairly sure of the sex? (I know age does not always correspond to size due to previous conditions...)

 

[Kristina]

I agree that it is a young male based on the depth of the anal scutes.

By the time they are 4-5 inches long, it is usually very apparent whether they are male or female.

 

[Atlas325]

My RT of roughly the same size has a much larger tail. So my guess would be female

 

[Alex17]

I read that males tend to carry their tails off to the side, I have a young Russian tortoise who is not even a year yet so I too am waiting to figure out what it is! I also have read that you typically can't tell accurately until it's about 5 years old