Male or Female

[Vicki78]

Hi

I have a 6 yr old Indian Star (male) who has recently been proud of showing off his tackle! So I've decided to get him a companion.
I have purchased a new Indian star which is approx 4 yr old, but need to know at what age can I tell it's sex?

The pet shop owner said he's 70% certain it's female but I'm not totally convinced.
My new tort totally retracts inside it's shell as soon as its picked up & doesn't come back out for at least 5-10 minutes (even when brushing it belly at bath time). Are there any other ways I can see if it's female?

Cheers

 

[dmarcus]

If you have photos of your new tortoise, I'm sure you may get an answer or two..

 

[JoesMum]

Be aware that any newcomer MUST be kept entirely separately in quarantine for a good 6-12 months before meeting yours in order to ensure that neither gets sick.

Your male is a hormonal teenager at the moment. He is likely to be very aggressive toward any newcomer and harass it constantly. His romantic techniques won't improve as he gets older!

The newcomer will become withdrawn and may become ill and die. If you want to breed, I'd advise keeping them entirely separately. introduce them to mate and then separate again. it's what they do in the wild where they are largely solitary: Meet up, mate and move on.

 

[tortadise]

With stars being Indian, Burmese or Sri lanken. Around 4" is a good guess. 5" is better" 6" is certain. Take a photo of "her" plastron and we should be able to help. It's pretty easy with stars. The males tails tend to be 2-3 times larger than females. Even at 4"-5"

 

[Vicki78]

This is a pic of the tail region.

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Here's the pic of the tail area. I'm convinced it's male.

 

[Neal]

Both look like males to me.

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Looks like a male to me as well.

 

[Vishnu2]

I say male too.

 

[TortieLuver]

Both pics~male

 

[pam]

I say male too

 

[Vicki78]

Thanks guys for your comments. I took him back & waiting for a female now.