How to Tell If a Russian Tortoise Is Male or Female (+ Pictures)

If you own a russian tortoise, at some point, you will definitely want to know if it’s a male or a female. Finding out the gender of a russian tortoise can sometimes be a little tricky, but with this short guide, you will be able to easily tell if a tortoise is male or female.

Russian male tortoises are usually smaller than female russian tortoises. Females usually have shorter claws than males and have the cloaca positioned closer to the base of the tail.

Here is a complete list of differences between male and female russian tortoises:

The size of the shell
The length of the claws
The shape of the shell
The length of the tail
The position of the cloaca
The shape of the snout

Now let’s take a closer look at the difference between male and female russian tortoises, how to spot them, and when you can start looking for them.

Differences Between Male and Female Russian Tortoises

Size

In general female russian tortoises are bigger than male russian tortoises. So if you have two tortoises that are about the same age and one of them is clearly bigger than the other, then the smaller one is male and the bigger one is female.

This is actually quite common for most animal species; the females are bigger than the males, after all, they are spending the most time with the babies and they have to be able to protect them.

Wild russian tortoises don’t take care of their young, but they still carry the eggs inside them, so they need to be bigger to have enough space for them, and that is one of the biological reasons why females are bigger than males.

Claws

Male russian tortoises have considerably bigger claws than females. This is an excellent way to figure out which of your tortoises is a male and which is a female. If you only have one tortoise here are a few pictures to help you out.

Male Tortoise Photo by Jim, the Photographer on Flickr

Russian Tortoises don’t use their claws for too many things besides digging and fighting off predators. But the males of some russian tortoise will use their claws to attract females during the courtship phase, they do this by hitting their claws together and producing sounds that seem to attract the females. The claws also allow the males to have a better grip when they are mating with the females after a successful courtship.

The Shape of the Shell

Male and female russian tortoises have slightly different shell shapes. But the place where they differ is not exactly the shell, the place where they are different is called the plastron. The plastron is the bottom part of the shell. The upper part is called the carapace, and together they are referred to as the shell.

Photos by braindamaged217 on Flickr

Female russian tortoises have a flat plastron, while males have the plastron a little more concave. This shape difference allows the males to climb on top of females while they are mating. Females also have a benefit from the flat shape of the plastron, the fact that their plastron is flat and not indented allows them to carry more eggs inside of them.

The Tail

Females have shorter and thicker tails, while males have longer and skinnier tails. This is usually a very good way to tell if one of your tortoises is a different gender from the other. Just make sure that you look very closely at the tip of their tail. A lot of shops keep small tortoises in tight crowded spaces where they can occasionally nip each other’s tails by mistake. So look carefully because you could mix up a male tortoise with a female because the tail was nipped.

Position of the Cloaca

Both male and female russian tortoises have a cloaca, the big difference is where it’s positioned.

The cloaca is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive and urinary tract. Females have the cloaca positioned at the base of their tail, while males have it positioned near the middle of the tail, and sometimes a little closer to the end of the tail.

Snout

Males have slightly longer and pointier snouts than females. The difference is very subtle but if you look very carefully you can notice it. The only thing is that this difference can only be observed when tortoises are slightly older, so if your tortoises have just reached maturity you might not notice the difference just yet, but as the tortoises get older this difference should start to become more and more obvious.

Male Tortoise

Female Tortoise

When Can You Determine the Gender of a Russian Tortoise

It’s almost impossible to determine the gender of a baby or juvenile russian tortoise. This is because none of the physical differences manifest enough when they are young. So to be able to find out you will have to wait for the tortoise to reach maturity. If your tortoise has already reached maturity then it should be really easy to find out.

Unlike most animals, tortoises reach maturity not only based on age but on the size as well. While it’s true that size and age are correlated, the size of a tortoise is influenced greatly by the quantity and quality of food that they eat, so if they have healthier food at their disposal they will reach maturity faster. As result pet tortoises mature faster than wild tortoises.

In general, you can expect a tortoise to reach maturity somewhere between 3 and 5 years, depending on their diet.

What Is the Difference When It Comes to Taking Care of the Male or a Female Russian Tortoise

There aren’t many differences, except for a couple of small ones. A female russian tortoise will lay eggs while a male tortoise won’t. Even if there is no male is around the female will still lay eggs, the only difference is that those eggs won’t be fertilized.

Taking care of a female tortoise that is about to lay eggs is not very hard, you barely have to do anything, so don’t worry about this part. But if you are curious about what you have to do when your tortoise is pregnant you can read this article: How to Tell if Your Tortoise Is Pregnant (with Pictures).

And the female tortoise will eat a little more since she is bigger but not by a noticeable amount so don’t worry about that.

In the end, I would say that it’s probably a little easier to have a male tortoise because they won’t lay eggs, but in the end, there is no big difference between them for you as a tortoise owner.

Final Thoughts

Here is a quick recap of what you should look at if you want to find out if your tortoise is male or female:

The size of the shell, males are smaller than females
The length of the claws, males have longer claws than females
The shape of the shell, females have a flat plastron, while males have a concave plastron
The length of the tail, females have shorter tails, while males have longer tails
The position of the cloaca, females have the cloaca at the base of the tail, while males have it closer to the middle of the tip of the tail
The shape of the snout, males have slightly longer and pointier snouts than females
The color of the eyes, depending on the species males and females can have different eye colors
The pattern on the shell, depending on the species males and females can have different shell patterns

With this information, you should be able to easily identify if your tortoise is a male or a female. But in case you are still having trouble, you can always leave me a comment in the comment section and I will help you figure out if your tortoise is male or female.