Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i receently aquired my first res(male) and i was wondering if it could breed with my midland painted turtle(female) both are over 6 years old. If they can breed does any one have a picture of what the offspring might look like? Also are res with no red "ears"they are yellow) and a double row of scutes on its back rare? thanx

Are you sure you have a RES, and not a yellowbellied slider? They are subspecies of each other, and the shell looks the same for both. As for double scutes, it's common enough to find those in the pet trade. Some people say it's from too high a temperature during incubation, which would be why so far I've only seen it in females. I've seen a lot of Myrtle Beach and NYC babies (once they've grown up enough that people don't want them any more) with double and even triple scutes. One turtle I took in had 21 vertebral and plural scutes, instead of the normal 13.

Here are some pictures of yellowbellies.

http://www.turtlefarms.com/specialty_gallery/yellowbelly_normal.jpg

http://www.uga.edu/~srel/govern'sschool10-2-02.htm

As for breeding with a painted, I don't think that would create viable offspring, or at least not offspring that could reproduce because they are different species. Why would you want to create a hybrid anyway?

Katrina

the res that i own with the double scute thingy is a female. I'm pretty sure a res because it plastern has the little circles on it, the skin has the same stripe battern that my other one has, and it carapace has the pattern of a res according to my reptile and amphibean field book
thanks for your help the sites were cool