Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female and male red-bellied sliders have been together for about 10 years now. The female is about as big around as a regulation NFL football. I keep them in a 55gal. long aquarium so they have enough room. They've always been happy together. recently though shes been acting a little wierd.
She seems to sit up on her rock alot and doesn't seem like she likes to come down. She hasn't had as much of an interest in her food as she used to either. She doesn't seem to like her pellets as much as she used to. I do feed them veetables and the occasional few crickets and goldfish but I haven't seen her eat her pellets in a while. I think the cause of this problem is the male. I see him sitting up on her back fluttering his claws in her face trying to mate with her alot. She never responds to this and just sucks her head into her shell when he does.
This morning i had a strange idea. I thought that she'd probably enjoy some alone time without the male trying to mate with her all the time. I could fill up their old 20 gallon tank and put it in another room away from her and keep the male in there for a few hours. Anyone else think this would be a good idea? Is there any chance this could be bad for either of them?

I disagree that 2 red bellies have enough room in a little 55 gallon tank. Especially a large football sized female, 55 is really not even big enough for one of them to live in comfortably.
It's kind of like humans can exist in say a 9x12 prison cell but that's not really what any of us would call living.

I have a 4 inch male western painted in a 55 gallon long, IMO it's big enough for him only. If I added a female who'd be larger than he is I'd get a bigger tank.
My guess is your female is feeling cramped in that little tank.

Another thing do you ever get them parasite tested? My turtles eat live food, I test them yearly for parasites whether they exhibit symptoms or not.
Lethargy & anorexia are both symptoms of parasite infection & with testing to get the correct diagnosis, treatment is no big deal.
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PHRatz

I second the motion of 55 gallon not being big enough.
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iturnrocks.com

I don't have room for a tank any bigger than that! I live in a 1200 square foot house with my mother, father, and sister. Currently i have my kingsnake in a 35 gal and another 35 gal with 2 leopard geckos in it, both in my room on my dressers. Out in the living room we have the 2 red-bellies in their tank and my 3 toed box turtle in a cage we used to keep our guinea pigs in. My sister has a loverbird in her room and we have 2 cats. I would love to give them a bigger tank but i don't have the room! They were kept in 20 gal long until we got them the 55 gal in December 2004. And after spending $450 on their new tank, stand, and canister filter I'm can't afford to buy a new tank just 2 years later. They are very happy right now, can turn around just fine and don't seem to be cramped. This summer i'm going to start bringing them outside during the day in a small kiddie pool to give thenm a little more excersize.

No offense, but you're kidding yourself. Fifty-five gallons is much too small even for onr turtle the size of a football. As far as them being OK, isn't your female having some problems right now? Thats why you came here in the first place right? As harsh as it may seem, no one here will tell you what you are doing is OK. The people aren't trying to be mean, they are just telling you the truth. If you can't adequately house them, give them up to someone who can or a rescue. Lack of money is no excuse for poor husbandry. I sympathise with you, but you should really try to do what's best for the animals.
Good luck.

The tank is a bit small.

As far as the problem with the female it could anything stress, parasites, some sort of bacterial infection or she could even possibly be carrying eggs. (especially if the male has been at her).

Where do you live? Have you considered the possibility of giving them a permanent outdoor pond?

It would be a much better alternative to what they have now.

Steve

Right now i live in Sacramento, CA. I've been thinking about an outdoor pond for some time now, but was always told it was too cold here. If i can get some more info, this summer i'll build them a permanent outdoor enclosure with a pond to house them all year round. In between now and then however i'm all booked up with school.

Is it too cold in Sacramento to keep my turtles outside? Sometimes it can get down to 32F here at night, but the usual winter night-time low is about 35-38F. If that is too cold what could i do to heat up a small pond?