General Care Discussion :: Male Turtle Hiding and Question about Eggs

[ShellyBean]

I have 2 RES that i've had for about two years. I got them when they were the size of a bottle cap. They have been acting out of the norm lately. The male is always hiding underneath the landing pad and rarely ever comes out. The female seems to be fine. I was cleanig their tank the other day and i found what seemed to me to be embryos. Are they to young to be mating? Were those her eggs?

[SpotsMama]

Hi Shelly,

I've broken off this comment into its own thread. You'll get more responses this way.

How big are your turtles? Usually at two years old they are too young to be producing young. They aren't too young, however, to be fighting. Usually a female is bigger than a male and can intimidate (scare) the male. That might be why he seems to be hiding all the time. Have you noticed them fluttering their front nails at each other, or one of them snapping at the other?

Once they start fighting (if that's what is going on, and it's a very common problem), there's nothing to do but separate them. Otherwise, one of them will get seriously hurt or even killed eventually.

On the "embryos", can you be a bit more descriptive about what you've found?

[Take-One]

My male hides too. Its normal.

[ShellyBean]

They are alittle over three years old. What i found on the filter was 5 round and clear things with something black in the center and it had a fawl smell. At first i thought it was mold but i just had cleaned out the tank 2 days prior to me finding them. And as far as food is concerned I always take out whatever they dont eat as soon as they are done eating. I dont know what it could be.