Is my Russian a girl or boy?

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jamiem21

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Hi, I was wondering if my tort was a girl or boy. We were told that it was a girl at the pet store but now I am wondering if they were right. Also how do you tell if they are full grown or about how old they are? Here are some pic






mercedes 3.jpg
mercedes 2.jpg
mercedes.jpg
 
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Spn785

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I'm guessing a boy. Not sure how to tell if they are full grown or not. How big is he? You really can't tell age, you can estimate, but that is only an estimate.
 

Yvonne G

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That's a boy tail.

Male Russian tortoises get to be about 5" in a straight line from front to back (SCL).
 

mctlong

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Did you just get him or have you had him awhile? When males are young, they tend to look female, but when they hit maturity, their tail grows and they look more masculine. If you've had him awhile, he may have still been young enough to look female when the petstore employees attempted to determine sex.
 

jamiem21

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Really, I had a feeling that they were wrong. We have been calling her a girl all along and she has a girl name! Is it because of the long tail?
 

jamiem21

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We have had him a few months and was told the opposite that the long tail was a girl. Thanks for the info, those pet stores don't know much!


I Love this site and so glad to have found it!
 

biochemnerd808

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Definitely a boy tale - long and pointy and curved to the side. :)
Pet stores are often wrong. I actually drew ours a diagram once. It stayed sticky-noted the the cage for 2 weeks, and then disappeared. Then I went back a few weeks later, and someone else was working, and just for the fun of it, I asked them if their tortoises are boys or girls, and they got it wrong again. *shrug* oh well... unless you are setting up a breeding colony, really, having a male is kind of nice because they stay smaller.

jamiem21 said:
We have had him a few months and was told the opposite that the long tail was a girl. Thanks for the info, those pet stores don't know much!


I Love this site and so glad to have found it!

 
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