Detailed Comparison Pictures of:
'T1'(Male Three-Toed Box Turtle)
'T2'(Male Three-Toed Box Turtle)
'T3'(Male/Female? Three-Toed Box Turtle)
NOTICE: This page contains 9 somewhat large and
detailed photographs, and therefore, the time to display them all may seem
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NON-COPYWRITE NOTICE: All photographs contained on this
page are hereby Released into the Public Domain. You may copy, use, distribute,
publish, sell, or alter them without consent of Roger Louie, the creator
of these photos. It is the authors wish to have these photographs help others
to learn about the American Box Turtle species, but this is not a requirement
for their use or redistribution.
T1's left eye.
T2's right eye.
T3's right eye.
A common trait of American Box Turtles is that Male
eye iris coloration is usually Red, or Reddish. This is true for Males of the
subspecies Florida Box Turtles, Gulf Coast Box Turtles, Three-Toed Box
Turtles, and Ornate Box Turtles. On the other hand, Eastern Box Turtle
Males are known to have an eye 'iris' color of Orange-yellow. Beware, don't
use eye coloration as a sole method of determining box turtle sex. Use it
in conjunction with other male traits.
Bye the way, according to most books, Female box turtles, in many cases,
have Brown, or Yellowish-Brown colored eye iris's.
T1's Plastron (The Bottom side of it's Shell).
T2's Plastron (The Bottom side of it's Shell).
T3's Plastron (The Bottom side of it's Shell).
I have read in more than
one book that Male Three-Toed box turtles have a slight 'indention' on their
plastron. I assume this 'indentation' would help during the mating process.
(T1 mating with T3) Turtles T2 (male) and T3 (male/female)
have this 'indention', but turtle T1 (male) doesn't seem to have any 'indention'.
T1's tail.
T2's tail.
T3's tail.
According to the books, male box turtles are
supposed to have 'thick' tails at the base of the tail. Also,
their 'vent', or in human terms, the anus, is located farther
away from the base of the tail. Female box turtles are
supposed to 'vents' that are located closer to the base of
their trails, and their tails are shorter than males.
Since all 3 of my turtles are relatively the same, and the vents
are all somewhat located in the relative same position, I'm
starting to think that ALL of my turtles are males.
This page Edited/Updated: 05-01-98 01:15 AM
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