Other Turtle Discussion :: Biggest RES I have ever seen!

[marisa]

Yes, what happens to the turtles that are caught?

[theartbook35]

It's obvious she's a female, males don't get that big. If she was a male, the nails would be huge at that size. That's a probably very old turtle too, just telling by the condition of the eyes.

Did you measure the shell? Looks about 10 or 11 inches.

[untsmurf]

Do turtles' nails wear down in the wild? I assume they would with all the rough terrain they move through everyday. So, maybe the nails wouldn't be a good way to ID a wild turtle...

[marisa]

The most accurate way to sex a turtle is by the size of the tail and location of the cloaca (when the turtle is big enough).

[theartbook35]

Do turtles' nails wear down in the wild? I assume they would with all the rough terrain they move through everyday. So, maybe the nails wouldn't be a good way to ID a wild turtle...

On males, I have noticed that the third and fourth digits have the longest, most prominent nails, so to me, even if they got worn down, those nails would still be prominent. They don't necessarily look worn down in the photos, anyways.

But like marisa said, I do agree that the ultimate way to sex a turtle is by the location of the cloaca.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Wow, she's a beauty! Hopefully she enjoys her new pond. If you are trapping them daily, I doubt she was a permanent resident of that pond anyways, likely just tempted over by turtle stories of koi.

[untsmurf]

Do turtles' nails wear down in the wild? I assume they would with all the rough terrain they move through everyday. So, maybe the nails wouldn't be a good way to ID a wild turtle...

On males, I have noticed that the third and fourth digits have the longest, most prominent nails, so to me, even if they got worn down, those nails would still be prominent. They don't necessarily look worn down in the photos, anyways.

But like marisa said, I do agree that the ultimate way to sex a turtle is by the location of the cloaca.

Yes, I think that's the best way as well.

But if you look in the picture the turtle's nails seem to be more rounded. As opposed to other turtle's, including mine, that are quite sharp. I'm assuming they would get shaved down with the increased activity and rough terrain in the wild. So even if this turtle doesn't have Krueger nails, doesn't mean it's not a boy (I'm leaning towards female due to size, but I don't know).

From the pics that I have seen, all turtles have prominent third and fourth nails, it's just more noticeable in males because they are longer. And in the pic, the third and fourth nails are the largest.

[rangergirl56m]

The turtles are given to the guy who farms the rest of the land and he takes them to some state designated pond

[waterboy]

Jesus Christ !!!