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So I realized today my red-bellied cooter hatchling doesn't have a tail..... hasn't had one since I got him. Wonder what could have happened to it.

Probably bitten off by a larger turt. Does it look like it's healed?

Try to post some pics if you can

Does your turtle have enough of a tail left to poop?

Yea, he has no trouble pooping lol. He hasn't had the tail since I got him, which has been a little over a month.

It seems to be completely healed and he's otherwise very healthy and active. I just find it odd that he has no tail.

The store that I got him from had him in a tank with only 3-4 other hatchlings, which makes me wonder how he lost it.

Maybe it's just a defect. As long as everything else is working, he should be OK.

EDIT: I just noticed in pic #2 he's missing a toe and a piece of the web. Maybe he did get bit........

Yea I think it got bitten off. It seems to have healed ok...

lol he looks a lot like a mini Roka!!:D

Wow i have never seen anything like that before, does it look like it was bitten off
Or maybe he was genetically deformed, well whatever it is, he/she is sure going to have problems reproducing

I don't think that's a red bellied cooter, looks like an RES to me, but I could be wrong

errr...It looks like a cooter to me. The belly patterns aren't like a hatchling RES

Hopefully there will be no problems when he or she gets older. And with Goose's observation, I think its good you got him out of there!

kstewart55 wrote:I don't think that's a red bellied cooter, looks like an RES to me, but I could be wrong

nah he's def. not a res, you can see the difference in this post.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10762&highlight=

ahh you're right. I had looked up pics, and the red bellied cooters had...well, red bellies haha, it's definitely a cooter though!

Wow, "Manx turtle!"