Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:14 pm
If you haven't already, consider reading the breeding section on the main site, it explains everything really well.
How do you know that they mated with the female? Even if your males flutter their claws at your female's face, it doesn't always mean that they are mating, in many cases, it means aggression (my male periodically flutters his claws at my females, but it's for fighting instead). Otherwise, the only way to know for sure is if you saw your males conduct a mating ritual and mount the female.
Are you certain you want to breed your RES? RES are overpopulated at the moment, hatchlings are sold everywhere at dirt cheap prices under inadequate conditions and often die weeks after birth unless cared for properly or people even dump their masses of unwanted RES into public areas where they most likely won't survive, or invade another native species for competition (which is bad). Caring for hatchlings will also cost a lot more money and require much more attention than adult turtles, so beware.
If you're sure that you really want to breed them and you have already planned out what to do if you do successfully breed and raise hatchlings, then read on.
Female turtles develop and lay eggs even with no male present, it's a natural thing for mature females, and they lay eggs anywhere from 1-3 times a year. Of course with no male present, these eggs are duds and you will get nothing from them. Turtles will often walk on land and search along a large area for a suitable area to lay eggs, RES have been known to be very picky, and may reject a perfectly well-made nesting area for unknown reasons (and it's common too), so prepare to make several nesting areas, or make your area very large. Turtles usually won't release their eggs until they find a suitable area, so they may retain them for an extended period of time, which can be very dangerous, even fatal. A turtle which has not laid its eggs and has kept them in can develop serious health concerns, so set aside a nesting area or take your RES to a vet if you notice anything is up.
A turtle will only release eggs in the water if it cannot find a good nesting area in time, and even so, it may be a health concern for having your turtle retain its eggs for so long. Eggs laid in the water will become infertile and duds within seconds of entering the water, so unless you see your turtle lay its eggs and immediately scoop them out of the water within seconds, then it's safe to say the eggs won't contain viable offspring.
Your male turtles may make it uncomfortable for your female to lay eggs, but as said above, the eggs won't make it anyways if they're in the water, and your female will only lay in the water if there's nothing left, so again, make a nesting area if you see anything up as soon as possible. Your male turtles may also eat the eggs in the water, and your female too, it won't care for the eggs once they're out.
If you know for certain that your female has mated with a male and has fertile eggs, then yes, it is best to separate them, at least until the eggs are out.
There are several ways to tell if your female is pregnant and ready to release her eggs, first and foremost, the simplest and best way to tell is to bring it into a vet for an x-ray. Otherwise, pick up your female, and try to ease it so its rear legs come out (which is not easy, turtles get stressed out as soon as they are touched and will withdraw to their shells or claw at your madly), then gently feel with your finger inside the shell behind your female's legs, you should feel lumps. Be careful not to go too hard though, you may hurt your turtle or burst the eggs (causing more pain to your turtle).
A good recommended bedding to incubate turtle eggs in is a moist mixture of compost/dirt and sand. 50% sand, 50% dirt, and make it moist, not dry, but not wet like mud either, just a little bit of water added is fine so that the bedding is soft, but not wet.
You should check up on your eggs every day and remove any diseased ones, they may spread disease to healthy eggs and kill off the whole litter, just do it gently, eggs can easily burst, and don't move the position of the eggs from when your female laid them, a slight change in direction can also kill the embryo within the egg, if you must move the eggs, remember the position of them and carefully move them and place them back into their original positions.
Viable eggs take roughly 2 months before they hatch babies.
When the hatchlings hatch, it's safe to put them immediately into the aquarium, since they have the natural instinct to swim, though you may want to leave them in there a few minutes before placing them into the aquarium. Just DON'T place them into the same enclosure as your adult turtles, they may see the hatchlings as food and can eat them in one bite if big enough, otherwise, they will kill the hatchlings, both the males and the female.
All of the information I just said should be on the main breeding article, if not, then this information is VERY common all over the internet, please read before posting.
Hey hey hey.
Go you! Sounds like your intentions are wonderful and you're doing all the work you need to, in order to make sure your turts will be well-cared for. Very responsible. And I'm also still very jealous. My fiance is allergic to cats, and I adore them. He doesn't like them enough to consider getting shots.