About 2 months ago i got a painted turtle(eastern, i think) from a friend. She bought it from a dealer 5 months earlier who said it was a baby girl. I am trying to determine sex and age and am having trouble. "she" is about 3 inches long. I can't tell if her tail or claws are long with no opposite to compare to, but her belly is pretty flat. She eats a lot...2-3 times a day of turtle sticks(about 4-6 per feeding.) She is always hungry. She also has some light brown (looks dry) marks on her shell. She has grown at least 1/2 inch since i got her. Lately she digss alot and when she is on her basking rock, she extends her limbs and puffs her neck in and out..(mating?). As you can see, I need a lot of help. I love her very much and want to do whats best for her.
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new painted turtle...help
Replies (5)
Painted turtles get very personable as they get to know you.
I have 2 as well as 2 RES.
First off, you are overfeeding your turtle. I know it is
difficult not to because they act like they are starving all
the time. Only feed 1 time/day. Give it only enough to
equal the size of its head. Put some Romaine in there for
it to graze on. Chances are it may not eat this right away
as this seems to come with age. Turtles should grow at
a VERY slow rate. Growing too quickly can cause them
all kinds of health problems. For instance, I raised my
RES from a hatchlings and they are 4 years old now and
are 4 1/2" long. That's about 1 inch/year.
Also, make sure you have a UVB source like the Reptisun
5.0.
Good luck,
Linda
Your turtle is most likely too young to tell the sex.
Sex is determined for sure by the placement of the cloaca
on the tail.
Linda
thank you so much. I love my turtle very much and want to take good care of her. Do you think you may have a ball park idea of how old she is. The people who had her before only fed her 2 sticks a day. they had her untill 2 months ago. she was about 1/2 inch smaller then. she is 3 inches now. does that help?
It is very difficult to determine age by size because of what
I stated in the last post. Turtles who are over fed grow
too rapidly and appear older and vise versa.
Just a guestimate at 3" (comparing to mine and if fed
correctly)I would say maybe 2-3year old.
Hope this helps
Linda
yes it does. I figured based on your info that she was about 2. thank you very much.
