Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My RES keeps trying to climb up the waterfall filter I have installed, it's kind of funky because he won't go on his rock that much anymore. Is he just trying to stretch? Is there something wrong with his water? I just changed it yesterday...

If you can, let him out for a few hours. This is the time of year that they lay eggs, and mine won't do it in the pond. They like to go as far as they can from the pond and dig a hole and lay eggs. How old is yours, and is it a female? If it's seven years old or so, it may want to lay eggs. If that is the case prepare for about a 5-7 hour process depending on the firmness of the soil.

>>If you can, let him out for a few hours. This is the time of year that they lay eggs, and mine won't do it in the pond. They like to go as far as they can from the pond and dig a hole and lay eggs. How old is yours, and is it a female? If it's seven years old or so, it may want to lay eggs. If that is the case prepare for about a 5-7 hour process depending on the firmness of the soil.

I'm still not sure what gender it is, I'm assuming it's male... I bought it a year ago from a pet store, and it was pretty big then - It's about 8 inches, I'd say. It's in a 20 gal. long tank...How do you tell the gender though? I've been trying to for a while, then I just gave up and assumed - probably not a good thing to do...

If you don't have anything to compare it to, that can be difficult. But the male will have long front claws, like up to an inch long. The males will also have a longer more slender tail than the females. They also are smaller in overall size than a female of the same age and raised in similar conditions.

Maybe the problem is that your 8 inch turtle is way too big for a 20 gallon tank. The general rule of thumb is that you need 10 gallons of water per one inch of turtle. Meaning that the recommended tank for your guy would be 80 gallons. You might want to look into a stock tank or rubbermaid container to give your turtle some more space. A kiddie pool is a nice alternative for the summer. Just be sure that shallow water doesn't heat up too much, give the turtle some shade, and protect it from predatory birds, cats, and such.