Identifying Male from female Turtle red ears

[bart687]

Can anybody help here as I have two turtles (large) that seem to be very close together. I have looked on the web and in books, am I to seperate the male from the female when there are eggs in the tank or do I leave him in the tank as I understand that the male can get aggresive.

[CatBrat]

Red ears lay their eggs in the ground out of the water, so what do you mean by removing the male when there are eggs in the tank? just trying to understand what you are asking.

My ones lay over a hundred eggs every year (we have a large group in an outside pond), but we don't really bother much with hatching the eggs.

[bart687]

I was told by pet shop people that when this happens I am to keep an eye on the male. But I have'nt got the turtels outside i have them inside, in a tank the pet shop that had told me about these, they said that I was to seperate the male away from the female of when eggs are layed. So I am a bit confused here.

[Bruce]

Hi

The best way to sex your turtles are

Males have a narower (sp) shorter tail

The female is typically bigger, Tail is fatter at the base

Males have longer front claws

Leaving the eggs in the tank is a waste of time, the shells (eggs) are pourous

Hope this helps

Bruce

[alanmin4304]

Males are smaller, have longer front claws and a tail longer than the female, The female needs about a minimum of 300mm of damp sand to lay the eggs in. They can both be agressive.

[bart687]

Ok I'm a bit confused here as I am getting differnt anwers from everyone. So I am to take the two turtles out of the tank and put the into a pond correct? and the male has narrower (sp) whatever that is where the female has bigger tail.

[alanmin4304]

I breed red eared turtles. The male is smaller, has longer front claws and a tail about twice the size of the female. As someone suggested in an earlier post, the female lays the eggs. I would suggest you try to get a small booklette called keeping red eared turtles in New Zealand by TJ Thornton. They have an interesting mating ritual but when they are mature they are definately not the cute little things they are when they first hatch. Males and females can both be agressive.