General Care Discussion :: Weird thing coming out of turtle's tail

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:21 am   Weird thing coming out of turtle's tail

My older turtle Hinata was given to me as a gift around Christmas 2005. Right now Hinata's SCL measures out to be about 9cm (about 3.5 inches).

For the past month or so, I've noticed this black thing coming out of Hinata's tail (which has gotten rather fat near the base). At first I thought I was catching "her" having trouble going number 2. But then I realized it was a part of "her" body. Why do I quote "her"? Because I'm not so sure anymore that Hinata's a female.

About 15 minutes ago, I looked back at the tank and saw Hinata sleeping towards the back of the tank but "her" shape was weird. So I decided to roll my chair closer to look, unfortunately "she" always been good at catching me when I'm spying so "she" wakes up and swims towards me. At the same time that thing shrunk back into "her" body. I didn't have a clear view because the water has gotten a little murky. Yes I know the water needs changing and I plan on doing it on tomorrow since the new water needs to sit for a day.

Anyway back to the tail. This big black thing coming out of her tail when I saw it was estimated to be a little less than half "her" shell's surface area. Can anyone tell me what that thing is? Is it a very large turtle equivalent of a penis?
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:27 am   

it would seem you do in fact have a male on your hands. how long are the claws getting? males also have thicker tails.

if it looked anything like the pictures in this thread it's a res penis
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... torder=asc
and what you are experiencing is called fanning.

you can learn a little more about the boy/girl difference at http://www.redearslider.com/determining_sex.html
but i'd definitely say you have a boy.
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pumpkinsherbet
 
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 12:34 pm   

MAAAN! Now I gotta go and swap their names... assuming the other one isn't a boy too... Thank you though for you help though.
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 2:04 pm   

Congratulations! You've got a boy!

However, turtles are not that picky about their names. Many people on here have named their turtles when the turtles were little only to find when the turtles matured that they had guessed the wrong gender. Most people don't bother to change the names. I knew a guy with a male turtle named Lulu.

On the other hand, if you want to change the name you can!
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SpotsMama
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:28 pm   

how do you know your other one isnt a boy too? Boy turtles dont fan their penis all the time, so just because the other one doesnt, doesnt mean he isnt a boy too. :)
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Hoooneylynn
 
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:11 pm   

i would say give them gender ambiguous names. if aeryn winds up being a boy, she'll be respelled to aaron. if john winds up a girl, he'll be respelled jonni since i tend to call him johnny whenever i'm actually saying the name out loud :)
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pumpkinsherbet
 
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 10:43 pm   

Maybe we should make a sticky about these topics because lots of people have been asking...? I haven't seen my turtle do that yet, but I'm pretty sure he's a guy (his nails are long).
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babystar
 
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Post Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:46 am   

My other turtle's smaller... and may not have matured enuff for me to tell what gender yet... i can only guess :P
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Post Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:31 pm   

I hear you... I might have a Cheecha and Chonga after all.
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cheech&chong
 
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Post Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:37 pm   

By how both of mine have the shape of their tails, i think i have two girls.Shame cause i wanted a boy too.Plus females are larger..
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:46 pm   Re: Weird thing coming out of turtle's tail

I've had a turtle for about 4 years and I was told it (I don't even know what pronoun to use anymore) was a female. She had a previous owners, so I can't tell how old she is. She has long claws and her belly is flat. But the thing is like 20 minutes ago she had this black/reddish thing coming out from her tail and she splashed around like crazy ultil she got on her dry spot. She's back in the water now and whenever she gets her head out I can hear her breathing heavily. I am very concerned and I have no idea where to look for help.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:52 pm   Re: Weird thing coming out of turtle's tail

OH MY GOD I REALIZR NOW THAT MY TURTLE IS MALE THANK YOU SO MUCH
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Post Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:05 pm   Re: Weird thing coming out of turtle's tail

I thought I had a female and was wondering about her being gravid. I also noticed a black thing between her legs. But i thought it was her leg shadow but now that i saw this it might of been male. I thought she was female because they have longer nails and tail and didn't look like the males they showed online. AWWWW. i even thought i felt eggs. *sad face* *confusedface* *blank face* i feel so sorry for him/her IDK!
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Post Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 4:04 am   Re: Weird thing coming out of turtle's tail

Sounds like a male... where exactly were you feeling?
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Post Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 11:22 am   Re: Weird thing coming out of turtle's tail

right by his legs. between his tail and right leg in the back there. I didn't check the thin skin that his leg is connected to, it looks really sensitive, but the back right by his tail. I saw the pics that this site has and I would make a good guess that he is male. I place some rocks by his basking area, a dry area to hide its eggs and I guess he was telling me that "i'm a guy!" since I have never seen it before. But he is growing up. I wish they had more pictures online and you tube they have some videos.

He is 3-4 inches the shell size.
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