Maturity to determine sex

[janiedough]

I went to the vet with Percy for a check up and she told me to feed him spinach.

I said I thought (knew) you shouldn't feed him that because it blocks calcium absorption. I don't know if she didn't believe me or what but she made me wait til she looked it up.

She came back and told me I was right, and she also read off the sheet that you shouldn't be able to tell the sex until they are so big - like 10-13" for females and 14-17" for males.

I thought that sounded about right. Just thought I would share - not sure how much validity it has in it though maybe you guys could let me know what you think.

 

[t_mclellan]

You can get a good idea at a much smaller size but bigger is better for sexing a sulcata.

 

[Yvonne G]

10 to 13" from front to back is usually when a male starts to realize that he's got private parts and he puts them out, testing the waters so to speak! But if its a female you have to go by the size of the tail.

Yvonne

 

[janiedough]

yeah i think you guys had told me about the size and tail before, but i had never heard it put in such definite terms

percy is about 10" so i hope by next summer to figure it out.