Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i just began a RES turtle project for myself. i have a pair that i got yesterday and i really want to breed them. not so much for the money, but to enjoy the experience. i live near a creek and i intend to put a few there after they are eating well. i bread them once before.......about 4yrs ago. i guess my question is since they were living in the same cage with other turtles, how do i reintroduce them in order to breed. as of now they are in 2 diff. containers, and both are eating fine. any help on how long to wait and how to precede.

************************************************ Thanks *********

First of all where do you live? If sliders are not native to your area do not release the babies. Sliders are just about in every State now but that does not mean they are native and should not be released in states where they are not a native species. (in most cases this is illegal to do as well).

Now as far as introducing them. Just give them a neutral space with some hiding areas in case there is some aggression and that's all you need to do. If you have a mature male and female they will get right down to business. After that you should have a land mass in the tank with substrate that the female can dig into to bury her eggs. That is a ways off yet though. Just give them a large enough tank or pond proper basking, filtration etc. and see where you go from there.

Steve

i live in Kentucky, they are here in an abundence. i have seen them in the creek and today i saw a baby. so to say the least, i think they are thriving. but about the breeding, i plan to keep them apart for about a month, and then put them together. ok.....the male is in a little bit bigger tank than the female. should i put the female into the males tank, or the reverse. they are eating fine and i thank you for your help.

Still check your the local laws. You may get in trouble if someone catches you (not likely but not impossible) in the act of releasing them.

I would advise you to either rearrange the males tank so that it looks different then reintroduce both of them at the same time OR switch their tanks for a while and then put the male into the female's tank. Before you do any of this though how large is your LARGE tank?

well the male in in a 75g plastic contaior. the female is in a 50g or 55g.