Is it a Female... Or a Male?

The first things that come to your mind whenever you buy a pet is: is it a girl or a boy? If you do not know the answer to this question, how would you know what to name your pet? Or, if you want your pets to produce offspring, how would you know whether you bought the correct pets?

If the pet you want or have is a red ear slider, you have come to the right place! This post would tell you all you need to know about determining the gender of your red ear slider.

First of all, you cannot really tell the difference between a male and a female red ear slider until it has gotten bigger. Bigger in terms of both age and size. The males have to be two to four years old and bigger than four inches in order for it to show its gender properties. The females have to be three to five years old and bigger than five inches in order for it to do the same.


One way of determining the red ear slider's gender is by the location of the hole on its tail, otherwise known as the cloaca. For male red ear sliders, the cloaca is located at a lower part of the cloaca as compared to that of the female, where the cloaca is almost under the shell.


Another way is to look at the shape and size of the red ear slider's tail. Male red ear sliders' tails tend to be wider and longer than female red ear sliders' tails.

Also, the shape of the red ear slider's bottom shell, otherwise known as the plastron, may determine the sex of the red ear slider. If it is concave, it is probably a male, but if it is convex, it is probably a female. This allows for the female to carry more eggs and the male to rest nicely on the female when mating.

The length of the red ear slider's claws are affected by its gender. If it is male, it would have longer claws than females, as they need it to fight for the female red ear sliders to mate with.

The size of the female red ear slider is larger than that of the male red ear slider.

Now you know how to determine the sex of your red ear slider! Try to test a few factors instead of just one, as there may be a few exceptions to the species of red ear slider, which may make the factors differ.

Sources: http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-a-Turtle-Is-Male-or-Female