DETERMINING A TURTLE'S GENDER (SEXING)
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Copyright by Valerie Haecky. This document may be freely 
distributed for non-profit use, provided this notice is
included.



The following are not clean-cut rules, and not all work for all
turtles, but using a combination of them, will usually help
you determine the gender of your turtle.

* Males often have fatter, bigger tails than females.

* Males have the vent (cloaca) about 2/3 from the shell towards
  the tip of the tail. Females have it closer to the shell.

Other, less reliable methods:

* Males have a flat or concave plastron (bottom shell) - so it will
  fit better on top of the female. Females have a flat or convex
  plastron - so there is more space for eggs.

* Male sliders grow long claws on their front legs.

It is pretty much impossible to tell the gender of a baby turtle. 
Since all of these are secondary gender indicators, they develop as 
a turtle grows up. How soon you will be able to tell, depends on the
size and age of the turtle; I can't really tell you when, but it may
be a couple of years.