General Care Discussion :: mating season ?

[spaz]

hi people ... amm i have 4 res in a tank ... just got them a 100 gal .. (its tempoary) but i noticed 2 of them looks like they are mating ... is that good or bad ? cause their only about 15 months old .. but kinda bigish ... like 5 inches round and 4.5 inches round.. thanks

[jameshermanto]

better you prepare the incubator tank for egg, and put the pregnant one, to the big aquarium, with basking area and sand on basking area. prepare that all. good luck, egg will hatch on 3-4 month (maybe..)

[Opus]

Might be aggression,they are still too young and too small for mating.And even if it was mating(even though I doubt it)are you able to take care of more than 4 more baby sliders?and also get ready for 4 more 100 gallon tanks or a huge pond because your turtles are probably gonna outgrow their tank this summer...just saying dude.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

At 15months your females cant produce eggs yet still two young. Are they doing the claw shaking or actually mating? Either way you shouldnt have to worry about the mating or the claw shaking. As long as none of your turtles are not being bit from aggresive males your fine.

[spaz]

ok .. guys/girls...so far, jameshermanto said ... get the female ready, opus say they could be too young, painteds4life said they deffinatly to young ... thanks for your replies ppl ... i was fresking out ... ... opus , i currently have the 100 gak in my room, downstairs i have 2 200 gal tubs and a nice size pond lol ... so i think i could handel the babies .. and i know they gonna out grow the tank .. its just a matter of time ... lol .. the little criters grow fast lol ... amm guys ... is a penn plax cascade 1500 canister filter good for my tank ? and is a uvb blub a black light ? that confuses me ....

[SpotsMama]

The turtles are very young to be mating. It usually doesn't happen until they are older. Were they just shaking their claws at one another or actually mating?

However, if it's not happening now it probably will eventually so it's best to think through how to handle it when it does. Have you read up on turtle reproduction on this site? Please do as the female will need help when she lays eggs.

We strongly urge you not to let any eggs the female lays hatch. There's a huge overpopulation of RES everywhere in the world. A healthy female can lay 20 eggs a year or more. You won't be able to house all of them and you'll run out of friends willing to take them in. Excess little turtles usually wind up being released in big lakes and ponds, where they either get sick or infect the other turtles, or if they live, outcompeting the native turtles until RES are the only ones left. In many parts of the world RES are considered invasive species and it's illegal to release them in the wild because they tend to push out the native species. Not sure about the laws where you are but you might check into it.

All sounds pretty negative, I know. Just want to be sure you've thought through it all now before you have to deal with it. We recommend, first of all, keeping the males and females separate and then, when the female does lay eggs, destroying them before they hatch. You can do this by cracking the eggs after they've been laid, or freezing them or boiling them if you have a problem with cracking them.

[SpotsMama]

On the filter, I'm not familiar with the one you mentioned, but I can say that a UVB bulb and a black light are not the same thing. You must get the UVB bulb from a pet shop or reptile supply place. The packaging must say that the bulb provides UVB and what percentage. If the packaging just says "UV" or "natural sunlight" or "full spectrum", then it's NOT the kind you need.

A UVB bulb is usually a fluorescent bulb - either tube or compact type. A bulb we recommend is the Exo Terra Repti Glo 5.0 26 watt compact fluorescent. A fluorescent bulb will burn cool so you need to also use an incandescent bulb for heat. Both bulbs should shine down on the basking area.

If the bulb isn't fluorescent, then it's a Mercury Vapor Bulb (MVB). The MVB's are very strong and we only recommend them for tanks that are 50 gallons or larger. If you use an MVB you don't have to also use a heat bulb since the MVB's burn hot. An MVB bulb we recommend is the T Rex Active Heat 100 watt flood light. There are several other good ones out there.

[spaz]

DAMM ... trerminate the eggs .... nah ... i'll let them go in my garden .. got a nice size pond and they could be happy there and if i get too much ... i'll transfer them to a bigger pond ... lol . i got tons of fluorescent bulbs at home, the spiral ones ... i'll look into it .. thanks for your info ... but do u know of any cost effective canister filters that could be used for my tank ? a 100 gal .... and wat other filters/pumps i should use .... if i need extra .. thanks alot

[theartbook35]

Turtle on top of another turtle at that age = I are dominant!!

It's their way of establishing who controls what.

Mine have been doing that lately, staring and sitting on. Water level changes make them nippy, but after a little while they chill out. It's amazing how water levels effect their overall behavior. I'm actually proud of the smaller one for sticking up for herself. They are approximately the same age, but different sizes, (they were the same size when we got them, and one just has a different growth rate than the other), and the larger one may still be the big-shot, but she won't be nipping at my little one for a long time.

[TheComputerGremlin]

spaz - Remember that for every baby female you let go into the pond or backyard or whatever, they can lay like 20 eggs for each clutch, around 6 clutches a year. So that's 120 babies for every female, every generation ... Way too many. And RES aren't native to Trinidad and Tobago, so you could end up destroying the local ecosystem. RES are very destructive, and they will eat or kill off most species. You may not feel the effect immediately, but future generations may. Take care of the Earth, and destroy the eggs humanely. It's the right thing to do, IMO.

[spaz]

ahhhhhhh ,,,, u ppl ... lol ... ok .. i will seperate my turtles .. if they do make young ... i'll donate to the zoo .. they have loads of animals there ... and they mixed the turtles ... u said they will eat or kill off the other spoecies .... are they that bad?


theartbook35 : i have the same thing as u ... i have 4 ... and they grow fast ... but they have different sizes ... biger, big, medium, small ... (just an example lol ...

[Opus]

No they are not that bad,but they my nip each other and the smaller turt might get injured badly but they arent destructive they aren't monsters lol they just eat alot!they are just over populated out doors thats all...Your ponds sizes can suit a few baby turts and you can feed the rest of the eggs to your eggs while there soft though?are turtle eggs soft like snake eggs?lol...any way coputergremlin is way too serious even though he is right lol!!

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Res eggs are hard but they can break into them. Mine eat there own eggs. You dont have to seperate your turtles if they make young. Just dont hatch the eggs.

The just reproduce faster and compete with local turtles for food. Truely they can be there and not do anything. Only in some places are they actually dangerous. Florida- they interbreed with yellow bellied sliders. So good cause there not to release. Couple other places i read but cant remember

[spaz]

lol ... i could imagin the the headlines for news!!! local boy and his pets destroy natural eco system lol ....

[Sassamo]

lol ... i could imagin the the headlines for news!!! local boy and his pets destroy natural eco system lol ....

Unfortantly is it very true, look at australlia, Cats have wiped out several speices of marsiples. Cow/goats/sheep have been taking and destryoing the grazing lands that native grazers need too survive. Rats are eating entire crops devistating farmers.

Res are very hearty turtles, they are aggressive eaters. They may even carry dieses that could harm native speices.

Froum what it sounds like your turtles are too young too breed it sounds like they are fighting, Res can be very aggressive with each other.
I know you don't want too destroy the eggs but what if you have 20+ turtles that are too aggressive too each other and then will have too set up seperate homes for them?

The spiral bulbs you have in your home are not the same ones Spotsmama mentoined, you need too get the ones that say UVB on them from a petshop. These bulbs are a must if you wish too have healthy turtles.