General Care Discussion :: Mating

[AluvS4life]

Do captive RES mate in captivity? I heard some don't. I have two RES, one male and one female. They are still young, but when they mature, will I have to seperate them in order to prevent pregnacy?

[rsour24]

u might need to. captive turtles do breed. u could always destroy the eggs in a humane way. but unless u plan on keeping the babies dont breed them.

[AluvS4life]

I would hate to seperate them though. Do all turtles mate? Or is it possible that they wont?

[Diamondbacks4Life]

I would just leave them together if they dont fight with each other. They will mate in captivaty but here is the thing. Even if you seperate them females can still lay eggs without males. Their just infertile eggs. So as long as the turtles get along there is no point in seperating. You might end up with eggs anyway.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Yes, all turtles mate. However, as long as no aggression is seen, you just simply humanely destroy the eggs right after they are laid. Your female will lay either way, she will just lay more frequently and more likely viable eggs with a male present.

If you are going to go through the whole "I can't kill animals" ethical dilemma, then yes, you want to separate them prior to around 2-3 years old, though they may manage to mate before that time if you aren't watching them 24/7. If it doesn't bother you, you simply need to boil or freeze the eggs right away, and then break/smash them open. Otherwise, one may hatch in a landfill somewhere ...

[AluvS4life]

Yes, all turtles mate. However, as long as no aggression is seen, you just simply humanely destroy the eggs right after they are laid. Your female will lay either way, she will just lay more frequently and more likely viable eggs with a male present.

If you are going to go through the whole "I can't kill animals" ethical dilemma, then yes, you want to separate them prior to around 2-3 years old, though they may manage to mate before that time if you aren't watching them 24/7. If it doesn't bother you, you simply need to boil or freeze the eggs right away, and then break/smash them open. Otherwise, one may hatch in a landfill somewhere ...

thanks for the info =]