Soldier and Sky, the oldest of my three turtles, have been acting strange lately. Soldier swims up to Sky and starts fluttering his claws at her, as if he were trying to tickle her. I have researched this, and I think it might be a sign of them wanting to mate. In fact, yesterday I came home from school and Soldier was .......well....on top of Sky on the bottom of the tank. I don't think I should say any more, as this site should be appropriate for all ages.

What should I do? Should I let them be? I know a Turtle and Tortoise foundation and many good friends that will be willing to take the babies, if Sky has them. My good friends have humongous tanks, the largest one 120 gal.

How many babies to red eared sliders have? Do they hatch in the water or on land? Thanks in advance.

Here's a picture of Sky on the left, Soldier on the right.

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There's no such thing as an aquarium that's too big!

~My Herps~

3 Red-Eared Sliders- Jimmy, Sky, and Soldier

~My Fish~
Betta-Peach
2 Mickey Mouse platys- Flower and Zaphod
And countless platy babies!

~My Wishlist~
All the herps in the world!

I think that there are far too many unwanted pets in this world. I recommend that if they do produce eggs you putthem straight into the freezer and then out with the trash.

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"If you're not falling, you're not trying." - Sonni Trotter

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

I agree with Lacey. Truthfully, you aren't in a position where you should be breeding anything. You already have too many turtles in your current tank, and the responsibility of offspring would be yours and not reliant on your friends to house them until you find homes.

RES turtles are already abandoned frequently once they get large. If you breed yours, you will only be adding to the problem.

If they do breed, freeze the eggs.

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well if you lived in florida I would just let them go : o since those kinds are all over the place...i agree with the others, ppl buy turtles cause there tiny and cute when you get them,and they mostly get them for ther kids which get sick cause they dont wash there hands after holding them and end up getting rid of the turtles :/

Releasing animals into the wild is harmful to the environment and in most places illegal. Please don't release anything.

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"If you're not falling, you're not trying." - Sonni Trotter

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

please dont breed,, I get them in here all the time especially in the spring and summer months,, the man I transfer them too has hundreds of them at his rescue that are just awaiting homes,,, so sad..........

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

VERY bad answer!
It is not only harmful to the environment to release captive animals but also extremely illegal!
You are not only releasing a species into an area where it doesn't belong but you may be introducing a disease that will totally decimate the native animals.
Its things like this that are responsible for a lot of environmental problems as well as the passing of laws prohibiting keeping pet herps.
Lets not give them any more ammunition!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Captive-bred populations don't have the same genetic diversity that wild ones often do, so releasing captive animals into a wild population, even where the species is native, can also pollute the native population's gene pool with undesirable turtles.

But yeah, I would NOT breed them. They might be a bit young to breed safely, and you have way too many turtles already. They need a nesting site, with sand at a certain moisture level and temperature. Red-eared sliders, along with green iguanas, are already near the top of the list of unwanted reptile pets. There are enough sliders out there that need homes without introducing more into the scene.

If your turtles do breed, I would eliminate the eggs, as they said. There's nothing in them yet anyway. But honestly, it would be best if they didn't breed at all. It's going to put a lot of physical and psychological stress on your female. The male will constantly be there, wanting to mate. Then the female will have to create all the eggs, which will tax her nutritionally as she uses far more calcium and other resources. She'll need more to eat and more nutrients. Then she'll get really stressed out when there's nowhere for her to lay the eggs. And even if she can lay the eggs, that's no easy task. It's a lot for her to go through with that's really unnecessary. I'd separate them as soon as possible.

Plus if she doesn't lay them they will rot inside her and kill her, which does happen sometimes. Especially if conditions aren't right for laying.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Alright, if she lays eggs, I'll probably freeze them or throw them away. Or I'll freeze them and give them to the Madrona Marsh I live by. They study animal eggs and other interesting animal-related subjects.

__________________
There's no such thing as an aquarium that's too big!

~My Herps~

3 Red-Eared Sliders- Jimmy, Sky, and Soldier

~My Fish~
Betta-Peach
2 Mickey Mouse platys- Flower and Zaphod
And countless platy babies!

~My Wishlist~
All the herps in the world!

you freeze them and then throw them away, that prevents hatching at the landfill, that would be an awful place to hatch.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead