Sexing Russian Tortoises

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pdelpizzo

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I just got 2 young Russian tortoises. I've read that it can be tricky to determine the sex of this species and is likely impossible until they reach maturity. However, the photos I have seen illustrate that the tail of a male is longer than a female's and goes to the side. The tortoises I have are only a couple inches long (shell) and though it seems they would be too young to sex, the tails on both go to one side and seem to match the photos I've seen. Is it possible that a very young female could mimic this position and appear as if it were male?

Thanks!

Patrick
 

dmmj

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Until they reach 5 or so inches it can be hard, the easiest way is that females have short tails with a star looking mark, and males have long tails with slits in them. Also females get bigger than males.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Patrick:

Welcome to the forum!!

Once they get to be a certain size (maybe 4" front to back), Russians are one of the easiest tortoise to sex. The male's tail is big and fat, while the female's is a little stump. Immature Russians all look female. So if you have a small one and it has a large tail, its male.
 

pdelpizzo

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Thanks for the info! I have a pretty good idea of how to tell the sex in larger individuals, but I guess my question is this. Will a young female Russian tortoise hold it's tail completely to one side or does it always stay relatively straight.

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Yvonne G

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I haven't had experience with that, sorry. I've seen the males' tails being held to the side, but not the females'
 

pdelpizzo

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emysemys said:
I haven't had experience with that, sorry. I've seen the males' tails being held to the side, but not the females'

Thanks. I guess I'm just surprised that tortoises that small would already be potentially sexable. Thanks for your help!
 
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