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Hi everyone,

My name is Jeff, I recently adopted two RES turtles at my local Petco in Phoenix Arizona. I have a large 2000 gallon outdoor pond that has 5 different levels, so they love it!
They are both about 1 year of age.

I have a couple worries though:

1. One of the turtles is male and one is female. I am worried they will reproduce when they mature. Is it guaranteed they will reproduce though? I understand that the male could get rejected, but if he is the only male, wouldn't she eventually accept?
2. The turtles are indigenous to my area, so I don't plan on taking them out of the outdoor pond during the winter months. Is there anything I should be worried about? I know they bromate during the winter, but I am worried the water might get too cold. Should I get a heater?

Attached is a picture of the pond and turtles

First do you have any kind of fencing around the pond area so they dont crawl off haha?

1. Most likely she will lay eggs, especially since they are native to your area and you plan on keeping out there all year and the pond very natural. Your pretty much giving them perfect breeding conditions.

2.Seeing as pond is big i imagine its got good depth to it. Even if the pond completly freezes over they will sleep right through it. You wont have to worry about anything. Buying heater would be the worst thing you could do for the winter. Just let them do their thing when the colder temps come. They know what to do.

Welcome to the forum! Wow your set-up is so cool.

Thanks for the info.

I'm pondering then if I should get rid of the female. I don't think I can deal with all breeding. I was given 30 days to give them back to the pet store, but I would feel so bad. It's like taking her out of paradise :\

This is in my backyard so there is fencing around the backyard but not the pond itself.

Welcome! What a little wonderland you created for them! I hope you don't have to take a turtle back, but if you do, and you want to have 2 turtles, you're better off keeping the female and getting another female. Although with such a huge environment, I doubt aggression would be an issue, males can be aggressive.

Welcome to the site! Great looking pond, hopefully you'll be able to keep them.

Thanks Atarx!

I decided not to take one back. They are only a year old, so I don't have to worry about breeding for awhile.

The female is the bigger turtle, so she is actually the aggressor to the male. Not sure if this is normal.

Thanks Steve and dumbork

Breeding is about size rather then age. I had a female res that laid at 2 years old. If female gets close to 6inches, that is when they can start laying.

Thanks again DBack!

Yeah, she is definitely getting close to 6 inches, but the pet store said they were both only a year old. Can she lay at 1 year?

...and she will lay eggs mating or not, of course I guess that only matters when there is no place to dig, and certainly looks like there is plenty of room for that.
Outdoors I guess you wouldn't really know if/when she lays them. Hmm.
Welcome to the forum. They look pretty cool hanging out on the rock!