General Care Discussion :: RES - hatchling - advice for experianced aquarium owner.

[allison]

I got a hatchling slider on the 4th of July (named it George.) I had a 70 gallon tank just sitting at home so I got a filter, some gravel rock and set the whole thing up with a basking rock and light. George looks a little sad being all alone in this huge tank. I've been thinking of getting another hatching to be friends. (I realize that in a few years I'd have to get a larger tank. 150 - 200 gallons probably.) The thing is I'd like to have a boy and a girl. I've been looking everywhere for tips on sexing RES, but I can't find anything about baby turtles. So how do I go about finding out if George is a girl or boy and how to find the opposite when looking for another turtle.

I used to take better care of my ex-roommates three old RES than she did and I'm confidant that I know what I'm doing with George, and that it'll live a long and happy life.

I also have another question. I'd like to also get some sort of bottom feeder to help keep the tank cleaner between cleanings. I know that fish are pretty much out. (I've never had a pleco that wasn't mean as sin.) And would worry about a pleco beating up on my tiny turtles. George isn't much bigger than a quarter. I've been considering getting a crayfish. (I'd like a blue one, but am doing research to find the most non-aggressive subspecies.) If the crayfish is bigger or about the same size as turtle what are the chances of A. George eating the crayfish? or B. The crayfish bullying or injuring George?

I guess a sub question of the crayfish question is all a matter of inches. crayfish have generally short life spans from what I gather. (1 to 2 years.) If I try and keep sizing crayfish with the size/s of my turtle/s do y'all reckon they'd pretty much leave each other alone? I have a nice hidey hole rock for the cray. I plan to get guppies and encourage a bit of fishing within the tank. If there are fish for them both to eat... these questions just keep going on and on...

Any and all advice would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Alli

What are other possible tank mated that would get on with a couple of hatchling turtles.

[marisa]

They can't be sexed with any reliability until the carapace is about 4 inches long (excluding the curve of the shell). Until a RES gets that size, the sex is anybody's guess (and rings on the shell, a concave plastron, etc. will not tell you the sex of a RES).

Turtles don't need buddies, nor is it a good idea to try to have a mixed sex pair and have them breed (what to do with the hatchlings????).

Look for some threads on keeping more than 1 RES in the same tank. It's a gamble that, although some say they have no problems, is more likely to end negatively.

[allison]

What do you mean "excluding the curve of the shell?"

I have given thought about turtle territorial behavior. Seems to come a lot from turtles of different sizes. I would get same sized turtles. I know it'll illegal to sell wee turtles for anything other than scientific purposes, but doesn't much seem to stop the trade. Sides I think I can handle washing my hands. I thought different sexes would get on better than two males or two females. But if it's a crap shoot then that's the way it is. I've room for more tanks and have lots of friends. If they have babies then they have babies and I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I think it'd be kinda cool. Sides with the size George is it'll be years before I even know if he's a boy. Let alone sexually mature. what 3 years minimum?

[papoopeepoo]

What do you mean "excluding the curve of the shell?"

if you were to take a measurement with measuring tape, and you measure around the top of the shell right along with the curve, you'll get a larger measurement than if you just stretch the tape along the side of the turtle and measure his actual length. Depending on how much your turtle's shell curves, it could affect the measurement and give you a wrong reading.

[theartbook35]

Gravel can't be with turtles. They tend to eat it, and it's been known to rupture internal organs.

Turtles aren't very good at living with company. Unlike snakes, male to female turtle pairs don't usually get along very well. Rarely will a male to male, or female to female pair get along.

I keep two turtles together, which I can separate if need be. As long as they have room and hiding places, and things to do, they don't have their issues. Granted, whenever you have more than one of any kind of pet sharing the same space, they will have their spats. Hatchlings can't really harm each other too much, but adult turtles are capable of seriously injuring, and in some cases killing each other.

There are also the financial responsibilities that come with two turtles, versus one. Should you have to separate turtle 1 and turtle 2, they will need their own separate habitats, 100% suitable. A pair of lights for one turtle will cost you around 40 dollars, and a second set will be another 40 dollars, plus the 100 gallons each of them will need. It's a lot to think about.

[X-Factor]

Red ear sliders are very common turtles and invasive to most areas. If you were to breed turtles it would probably be recommended for a different species of turtle because red ear sliders grow quite large and unless you plan on giving away the offspring it could pose a problem.

Red ear and yellow bellied sliders are probably the 2 most widely bred turtles in the world.

[untsmurf]

I recommend spending some time with the turtle you have now. Take a year or so and see what all is involved in turtle keeping. Then, take the time to get your turtle into its permanent home: upgrade everything as much as you want and as much as your turtle needs. Then, once you see more of what it means to have a turtle, consider getting another one.

I originally had two turtles and had one kill the other through starvation and dealing with that is very hard. That was about 4 years ago. So, I've had Mikey for going on five years and seeing everything that it takes, I'm not sure that I want to go through it all again.

Basically, don't jump into something that you're probably not ready for.

[allison]

I guess everyone missed the post where I said I'm an experienced aquarium owner hand have taken care of turtles before. I guess everyone also missed the part where I said I have a wee turtle in a 70 gallon tank. (Which should be good for one to two turtles for years. I may never have had a wee baby turtle, but I've had difficult pets before and numerous cases of fish fighting (mostly because pleco's are nasty nasty aggressive evil fish.) I even have a hospital tank. Oh and when I said gravel I meant that I have stones in the bottom. They're pretty big and I'm not worried about George eating them. I didn't ask about stones. I asked about crayfish. I also don't want to wait two years and have two turtles (one already established in the tank) getting all territorial and fighting because one turtle already "owns" the tank. It's stupid to think that two animals of different sizes will get along if I suddenly decide to add a turtle to the tank years later. What makes sense is having two small turtles of the same size growing up together in a large tank. I want to get a 200 gallon in a year or two. My turtle is an inch and a half long. It's not going to outgrow a 70 gallon tank over night.

I'm really dismayed about how much of a stuffed shirt most of you are on this forum. I'm not some stupid kid that has a res in a Chinese food container. I'm not hung up on TMNT. I am an experienced aquarium owner. What kind of person just has a 70 gal tank just lying around? I fully understand that owing a turtle (or any pet for that matter) comes with a lot of responsibility. When I got George I immediately came home and started doing research. Seems to me that plenty of people have more than one turtle. Plenty of less experienced people buy pets they can't take care of every day. I know morons who never walk their dogs. People who own 9 cats and just one one litter box. All of these things are bad ideas. I took care of a juvenile res for a year and a half. I was the only one feeding it and changing water. I even bought a heater for that turtles water cos I was concerned about how the owner was keeping her. I even had to explain about de-chlorine when she wanted to put guppies in the tank. She hadn't even been treating the water!!!! I saved about 5 guppies from an untimely and painful death. I am not some callous pet owner in it for her own sanctification. Part of what I enjoyed about having fish was caring for the tank, doing water changes and setting up an eco system. Which is why I was looking for information on crayfish.

So please back off on the lectures and the unasked for bits of information. When I don't know something I look it up. When I can't find the answer (like with crayfish) I'll ask. But if I don't ask, chances are I don't need the information.

You can respond to this if you want, but I'll probably try and find another forum, where people aren't so high on themselves.

It hasn't really been all that nice,
Alli

[theartbook35]

So, in other words, you have a lot of experience caring for turtles, yet you are asking us questions about keeping them together. You said GRAVEL, not rocks, GRAVEL. Gravel sounds like gravel, and when you say gravel, people think of gravel. We can't read your mind.

I think you should come down off of your soap box before you start calling us high on ourselves. All we did was offer you information that is very important. Like I said, turtles don't live well with company. Company includes fish of all species, crayfish, snails, frogs, and other turtles. As far as sexing turtles at the hatchlings stage is concerned, there are hundreds of threads on this forum related to that, including a page on the website's basic care section. Since you enjoy looking things up yourself, why don't you have at it.

You may be experienced in turtle care, and aquarium care, but so are we. No one said you didn't know what you were doing, no one said you were callous, or some stupid kid. Don't put words in my mouth.

If you are going to react that way every time someone tries to give you advice, don't expect many people to answer your questions.

[marisa]

Being an experienced aquarium owner and having taken care of someone's turtles (for how long?) doesn't necessarily make a person an experienced turtle keeper. I find it interesting that, for the experience you say you have, you knew virtually nothing about telling the sex or even measuring the shell. Frankly, your questions are very representative of a newbie's. Nothing wrong with being one, one of the ways people learn is by asking questions.

You also said initially, that "Any and all advice would be very welcome." Well, members gave you what they each believed to be sound advice. Much of it apparently wasn't what you wanted to hear. There was no need to get defensive...