Sex anyone?

Maggie3fan

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Butta-face?????

Gee Mags, I got excited for a sec.....don't get those questions anymore....:(

Sry guys, it's 3AM and it's all I got.....
Woo hoo and I don't make those offers anymore!!!lol My beloved sister keeps changing the sex on my animals, so now nobody will hazard a guess to be wronged by the Nazi Moderator! But going on the previous correction using the long tail, this ornata used to be hers, I rescued this animal from her! The NM said it was a female...but now she used the long tail red eye thing to change my long term female to male...so using her freakin logic (granted it was after her accident and she was out of her mind on pain killers) using her logic this female must be male with the long tail, no red eye no green head...??? I sure don't want them breeding...somebody help me...
 

Maggie3fan

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thanks. Glad to hear, I was wondering how 'Eddie" was gonna breed any of the females 3 legged tho. Now all the sudden my creep of turtles has changed...2 ornata males...one on 3 legs and the other like a dried up prune, he lived with the same woman all his 20 years, then she decides she's tired of buying canned cat food just for him...so she takes him to the pet shop that buys my birds and gave him to them. omg...I shake my head in frustration100_0097.JPG
he has a very pretty and colorful face...but he's still stressed and afraid of me...
100_0098.JPG I'll get a better face photo later...
 

Yvonne G

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thanks. Glad to hear, I was wondering how 'Eddie" was gonna breed any of the females 3 legged tho. Now all the sudden my creep of turtles has changed...2 ornata males...one on 3 legs and the other like a dried up prune, he lived with the same woman all his 20 years, then she decides she's tired of buying canned cat food just for him...so she takes him to the pet shop that buys my birds and gave him to them. omg...I shake my head in frustrationView attachment 330518
he has a very pretty and colorful face...but he's still stressed and afraid of me...
View attachment 330519 I'll get a better face photo later...
. . . and he's NOT an ornata! Terrapene carolina triunguis.
 

jeff kushner

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Nothing like consensus from the top talent to convince you.....

Okay guys, with just the 1st 2 pics, what did you observe to base your very fast conclusion that she's a she? Educate someone who wants to know.....please and thank you, as always.
 

ZenHerper

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Nothing like consensus from the top talent to convince you.....

Okay guys, with just the 1st 2 pics, what did you observe to base your very fast conclusion that she's a she? Educate someone who wants to know.....please and thank you, as always.
This is a younger male, but the longer tail (cloaca placement outside of carapace circumference) is evident...it also tapers more gently and stays meaty. In the females there is a bump where the cloaca sits closer to the body (wide enough to stretch and pass eggs), then the tail is abruptly tapered to a delicate peg.male ornate tail.jpg
 
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jeff kushner

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So you could see (and I could after several tries) the "bump" as you describe it, of the vent in the top pic and it's very obvious in the second of course...... and by it being closer to the shell, that's the indicator....wow. Thanks, I learned my new thing for the day!
 

ZenHerper

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Box turtle dimorphism makes ID easier...but plenty of turtle species don't have other features to confirm/deny a gender diagnosis. (And some BTs break the rules.)

It is important that you are examining a full-sized (read: sexually mature) animal...this is a young female ornate, but on casual glance the tail is still somewhat undifferentiated:
immature female ornate tail.jpg
As she ages I expect the bulge near the body to widen, but for the cloaca to stay about where it is now and become more sheltered by the, well, the shell. The tail tip will stay narrow, giving it a more apple stem appearance.
 

Yvonne G

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He's ornata actually years of cat food and no water made him look desiccated and colorless...
Pah-leeeze! You're arguing with ME? The Nazi Moderator? The see all, know all of all things living and dead? I have no idea because I can't see the back feet, but do me a favor and have a look at how many toes that little turtle has on its back feet.
 

ZenHerper

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He's ornata actually years of cat food and no water made him look desiccated and colorless...
Nope. lol Neglect can do a lot of things, but it can't change your DNA.

Ornates flatten on top as they mature - this guy's carapace is round (well, minus the MBD); the rays (and the color palate in general) on the carapace are not ornate; ornates don't have white spots on their faces.

I'm certain the plastron is not ornate...
 

Maggie3fan

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Pah-leeeze! You're arguing with ME? The Nazi Moderator? The see all, know all of all things living and dead? I have no idea because I can't see the back feet, but do me a favor and have a look at how many toes that little turtle has on its back feet.
NO!!! he's got 6 toes on his back feet...
 

Maggie3fan

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The owner told the pet store that she had him since he hatched. That he is ornata and 20 years old...I thought he looked sort of 3-toed but I thought he'd be more Eastern because of his face. I don't mind him being 3-toed, he was supposed to go to you anyway. Maybe I'll slip him into Houdini's shipping box with him....lol
 
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