Sulcata plastron starting to concave?

[TechnoCheese]

It’s a little hard to get a pic, but Curtis’s plastron seems to have been getting more and more concave. Is this just normal for plastrons, or is “he” maybe starting to look male?

Curtis is 12 inches long.

(PS- just projectile peed in the pics. Time for a soak!)

 

[jaizei]

Some females may have some concavedness, it's just not as deep as males. The tail still looks female.

 

[Markw84]

Curtis is looking male. But still not certain. Things to look for:

The tail will enlongate and start to be held to the side especially when you flip it over.
The anal scutes will start to flare outward at the tips
The gulars will separate and start to elongate. A females gulars normally show no seperation or "forking"
The supracaudal will start to curve under beyond vertical. (protecting the tail and giving a male something to support its weight and still have an opening for access to the female while breeding)
The plaston will start to develop the concavity.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Curtis is looking male. But still not certain. Things to look for:

The tail will enlongate and start to be held to the side especially when you flip it over.
The anal scutes will start to flare outward at the tips
The gulars will separate and start to elongate. A females gulars normally show no seperation or "forking"
The supracaudal will start to curve under beyond vertical. (protecting the tail and giving a male something to support its weight and still have an opening for access to the female while breeding)
The plaston will start to develop the concavity.

Thank you!

 

[TechnoCheese]

Curtis is looking male. But still not certain. Things to look for:

The tail will enlongate and start to be held to the side especially when you flip it over.
The anal scutes will start to flare outward at the tips
The gulars will separate and start to elongate. A females gulars normally show no seperation or "forking"
The supracaudal will start to curve under beyond vertical. (protecting the tail and giving a male something to support its weight and still have an opening for access to the female while breeding)
The plaston will start to develop the concavity.

Would these notches on the gulars be considered forking?
For a reference on growth, here’s the clearest plastron pic I could find from 2 years ago

 

[Markw84]

Would these notches on the gulars be considered forking?View attachment 286006
For a reference on growth, here’s the clearest plastron pic I could find from 2 years ago
View attachment 286007

Yes, that looks like the beginning of the forking of the male gulars. I always keep in mind - I have been fooled several times at 12" as they can still change, but when I see that happening to gulars, I'm usually about 90% correct in male.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Yes, that looks like the beginning of the forking of the male gulars. I always keep in mind - I have been fooled several times at 12" as they can still change, but when I see that happening to gulars, I'm usually about 90% correct in male.

Woo hoo, thanks!

 

[Maitri06]

Ok, so this is a bit funny but somewhat helpful. I live in Florida where old dried coconuts are easy to get. I put one in my tort 's space one day thinking he would play with it a bit, maybe push it around or something, like with his bowling ball. He climbed onto it, started humping it like mad. He is 14 and I already knew he was Male, so not an unexpected thing but a simple way to figure out gender. I would attach pictures but my friends called it tort porn!!