If you own a painted pet turtle, at some point, you will want to know if it’s a boy or a girl. But in most cases, this is easier said than done, unless you have a well-structured guide with pictures that will tell you what is the best way to find out the gender of your turtle, like this guide right here.
The best way to determine the gender of a painted turtle is by looking at the length of its claws, the shape of the shell, the length of the tail, the position of the cloaca, and the shape of the snout. All of those characteristics are different in male and female turtles.
Those differences are usually quite subtle, but if you look closely at your turtle, and compare it with the pictures in the article you will definitely notice them. So let’s start with one of the easiest-to-spot differences, the length of the claws.
Length of the Claws
The first thing that you should look at in order to figure out if your turtle is male or female are the claws. And this is because males have visibly longer laws than females.
Here are two pictures, the first one showing the claws of a female turtle, and the second the claws of a male turtle.
There are two main reasons why male turtles have longer claws than females.
The first one is to help the male turtle have a better grip on the female’s shell when they are mating. And the second one is to help attract females in the first place, as during the mating ritual a lot of turtles use their claws to make some specific sounds to attract females.
Length and Shape of the Tail
Females painted turtles have shorter and thicker tails, while males have longer and skinnier tails.
This is usually a very good way to tell if a turtle is male or female, but there is one thing that can easily mislead you, and that thing is a nipped tail, which is very common among pet turtles, more than in wild turtles.
Small pet turtles are usually kept together in very tight spaces, and some of them will occasionally mistake the tail of another turtle for something that they can eat, so they will bite it. And as a result that turtle will grow up having a smaller tail than it would have otherwise.
This can also happen in the wild, but it happens rarely since turtles don’t spend that much time near other turtles, and they have a lot more space.
So make sure to take a closer look at that tail and see if it looks whole, otherwise, you could mix up the gender of your turtle.
The Position of the Cloaca
The cloaca is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive and urinary tract, and it can be really helpful in figuring out if a turtle is male or female, even if all cloacas look the same.
Females have their cloaca positioned near the base of their tail, while males have it closer to the middle of the end of the tail.
Turtles use the cloaca for a lot of things, they use it when they lay the eggs, they use it when they fertilize the eggs, they use it to breathe underwater, and a lot more. If you want to know more about the cloaca you should check out this article: Do Turtles Have Gills?
The Shape of the Snout
Males have slightly longer and pointier snouts than females.
The difference is very subtle but if you look closely you can notice it. So, here are two up-close pictures of a male turtle snout, and a female turtle snout.
As you can see the difference is very subtle, but it’s definitely there.
As much as I’ve researched I haven’t been able to find a reason or use for this slight difference in shape, so at the moment there is probably no information about this, or maybe it doesn’t have any benefit at all. The only interesting thing I found about this is that during the courtship phase some male turtles will shoot a jet of water through their noses at the faces of the females, to attract them. This is not necessarily correlated to the difference in shape but it’s definitely funny.
The shape of the Shell
Male and female painted turtles 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.
Female painted turtles have a flat plastron, while male painted turtles have the plastron a little more concave. This shape difference allows males to climb on top of females while they are mating.
In this picture, you can see multiple painted turtles. But the second one from the left and the last one from the right has a more concave shape than the rest. I know this kind of thing can be a little hard to tell from a photo but in reality, is really easy to tell.
In my opinion, this is one of the best ways to tell if a painted turtle is male or female, it’s really easy to tell the difference and the difference can be observed from a relatively young age.
Size of the Turtle
In most cases, female painted turtles will get considerably bigger than males. On average a female will reach sizes between 12 and 14 inches (30 and 35 centimeters), while males usually reach sizes between 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 centimeters).
This is probably the best method that you can use if you are comparing two turtles that have been born at around the same time, have been raised in similar conditions, and eating similar amounts of food (food plays a crucial role in how fast a turtle grows), but in other conditions, it’s not the most reliable method.
Color of the Turtle
During the majority of their lives, both male and female painted turtles have almost the same color tones, but once they start reaching the last years of their life their colors will gradually start to darken. This is especially noticeable in males.
This method is only useful on old turtles, so if you want to identify the gender of a young painted turtle, this might not be the best option.
What Is the Difference When It Comes to Taking Care of a Male or a Female Painted Turtles
There aren’t any major differences, just a couple of small ones. The first one is that a female turtle will lay eggs while a male turtle won’t. Even if there is no male around, the female will still lay eggs, the only difference is that those eggs won’t be fertilized.
Taking care of a female turtle 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 turtle is pregnant you can read this article: How to Tell if Your Turtle Is Pregnant.
And the female turtle 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 turtle because they won’t get pregnant, but in the end, there is no difference between them for you as a turtle owner.
Related Questions
How long can a turtle stay underwater? It depends on the turtle, most sea turtles will be able to go for at least 5 hours without breathing, most aquatic turtles should be able to stay underwater for at least 20-30 minutes, land turtles on the other hand are not very good at staying underwater so 1 minute is the average you can expect them to be able to stay underwater. Here is a list of average times a turtle can spend underwater:
- Box turtle – 1 – 2 minutes
- Desert tortoise – 1 – 2 minutes
- Snapping turtle – 20 – 30 minutes
- Red-eared slider – 20 – 30 minutes
- Map turtle – 20 – 30 minutes
- Green sea turtle – 7 – 10 hours
- Leatherback sea turtle – 7 – 10 hours
- Kemp’s ridley – 7 – 10 hours
- Olive ridley – 7 – 10 hours
How long can Painted Turtles live? As pets, Painted Turtles can live anywhere from 30 years to 50 years. In the wild, they usually live for 25 to 30 years. The difference is so big because there are a lot of predators and other dangerous things in the wild that will end up hurting the turtle, thus reducing their lifespan.
Can Painted Turtles sleep underwater? Yes, Painted Turtles can sleep underwater. They actually prefer to sleep underwater. When they sleep their metabolic rate will go down, so they will be able to spend a lot more time underwater than they normally would.
How much water should be in a painted turtle tank? The general rule of thumb is that there should be at least 10 gallons of water, per inch of shell. So if your turtle has 4 inches of shell in length, then there should be at least 40 gallons of water. If your turtle has 6 inches then there should be 60 gallons of water.
Hello,
If you enjoy the content that we create, please consider saying a "Thank You!" by leaving a tip.
Every little bit can help us tremendously in continuing to create quality content that helps turtle and tortoise owners around the world.
We really appreciate the kindness and support that you show us!
Is there away I can send you pictures of my painted turtles and you can let me know what sex they are LOL
Sure, you can find our email on the contact page.
I have a 24 year old painted turtle and her shell is almost 5″, I keep her in 20 gal long aquarium. Do you think she will grow anymore?
At 24 years old, it’s unlikely that your painted turtle will experience significant additional growth in terms of shell size. Painted turtles typically grow at a slower rate as they age, and their growth can vary based on factors like diet, genetics, and environmental conditions.
Keeping your painted turtle in a 20-gallon long aquarium is suitable for her size and age. However, always ensure that she has access to clean water, a basking area, appropriate lighting, and a balanced diet to support her health and well-being.
As turtles age, their care requirements can change, so it’s essential to monitor her health and make any necessary adjustments to her habitat, diet, and lighting as needed. Regular check-ups with a veterinarian who specializes in reptiles can also be helpful to ensure she remains healthy in her older years.
I want to know what factors affect the gender of the southern painted turtle. As a Chinese, the probability of male turtles in China is very small, so I want to study what factors this is. If you see it, thank you for your reply and help me, I still want to buy the southern painted turtle with albinism, do you know where to buy it
The gender of southern painted turtles, like many turtle species, is primarily determined by the temperature during the incubation of the eggs. This is known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). In general:
Higher Temperatures: Eggs incubated at higher temperatures (usually above 30°C or 86°F) tend to produce female turtles.
Lower Temperatures: Eggs incubated at lower temperatures (usually below 30°C) tend to produce male turtles.
If you’re interested in purchasing a southern painted turtle with albinism or specific coloration, you may want to contact local or online reptile breeders, reptile expos, or reptile rescue organizations. Keep in mind that albino turtles, while striking in appearance, may have some special care requirements due to their lack of pigmentation and potential sensitivity to light. Always ensure that any potential pet turtle is acquired legally and ethically, and from a reputable source.
As for the male-female ratio in southern painted turtles in China, it’s possible that the temperature conditions during egg incubation in some areas are more likely to produce female turtles. This could be influenced by local environmental conditions, including the ambient temperature. However, this would be a subject for scientific research to investigate further.