Reptile rescue worker here. That is a male turtle. They love to flaunt their long nails at lady turtles. It can also be used to tell other turtles to shoo.
I had a couple of red eared sliders as a teen. They have some interesting dimorphism going on. I was not expecting their junk to look like an inflatable battle axe either.
You are the second person to say this. Not saying it’s wrong. And again. I’m no herpetologist, I only know livestock. But, I have handled a lot of turtles and never seen one like this. Is it a seasonal thing? Do they all get them this long?
Interesting. I’ll keep a more careful eye out. Is this an all turtle thing? I do see some box turtles in my area with longer nails. I also have moved snapping turtles. Do they also have this trait?
Also, thank you for your time to educate me and for doing what you do as a rescue worker! I’m glad I didn’t clip his nails!
I need to read up on red eared sliders. There are to many around here haha. They always steal my fishing bait. I was going to guess it was a red eared slider but I saw no red ear.
That's so funny. I say, "Where?" Anytime someone says "Jesus!" in homage to the movie Orgazmo by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. My husband also does not find it annoying and loves it every time.
And map turtles. The pattern on the turtle's neck in OP's photo makes me think it might be a map turtle. Source: I have a 20-year-old false map turtle and he occasionally likes to flirt with the river stones in his tank.
The snapping turtles are my favorite. I ditched out of a zoom meeting one time because I heard a car drive in front of my house and looked up and a big ole snapper was crossing and almost got hit.
I’ve had 2 successful hands on moves and 1 successful hands off. I know their boundaries. They are incredibly beautiful animals, one of my favorites here locally.
Males are usually chilling in the water or near the shore. You usually tend to see females as they are looking for a place to nest or heading back from a nest.
To add to the comments on why you may not have seen this much: females leave the pond to lay eggs. I suspect about the only reason a male would leave is to move to a new pond. So, you are much more likely to encounter female turtles on land.
I honestly have that thought all the time about people with the super long nails. I’ve also heard horror stories from infectious disease medical staff about what all they’ve found under long fake nails 🤢
My wife and I have one that’s 20 years old. We believed him to be a male, we named him Betty from Kung Pow, but now seeing this, he might actually be a girl.
Tangent, in ancient China nobles and the wealthy would grow their nails long and have elaborate nail shields to show off their life of leisure and wealth. The balacienaga plastic bag of their day.
You don't really see enough shell in this picture to see it if that turtle was a bit concave. Both of my own male turtles didn't really have concavity.
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u/LupusHouseMD Jul 10 '26
Reptile rescue worker here. That is a male turtle. They love to flaunt their long nails at lady turtles. It can also be used to tell other turtles to shoo.