Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. New to the forums.

anyway to the point. i bought this turtle dock so my two RES (male and female) can bask. for a few weeks they used it fine. But now the female keeps biting and sniffing around on it. its barely four inches so im wondering why it shows symptoms of pregnancy. but im not entirely sure because it eats just as much as my other turtle, and they eat alot. is it pregnant or not?

thanks

How large is the female?

Katrina

its about 2 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches long. the male is a little bit smaller. ive had them for about 4 years so their a little over four years old. and that's still young isn't it? But it keeps biting and sniffing everything. But the appetite is still the same.

How big of a tank are they in? They sound really small and that's why I ask.
Why do you say biting and sniffing are signs of it being pregnant? You need to check to see if she has eggs. Feel and look by her back legs, if you see bulges and feel round things (not her legs because they will bulge a little too) then she has eggs. You will also notice she doesn't poop as much as she used to. I don't know why but a friend of mine had a RES with eggs and it stopped pooping for a while and someone told her to check for eggs, and sure enough she had eggs inside her.
If she does have eggs then you need to make a sand area where she can get to anytime she needs to so she can lay her eggs. If she doesn't lay them then she can get egg bound and die.
Oh and if she does have eggs it doesn't mean they will be babies if they hatch. It's a higher chance that they will be fertile though if you say you also have a male.

They are the perfect size for their age, most people just overfeed their turtles, but an inch a year is perfect. Sliders usually don't reach maturity until 5 inches, but yours may be early. Providing a nesting box of sand won't hurt anything anyway, just put her in it for a few hours and see what happens.
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they're both in a 10 gallon tank. yeah i know its small. right now im trying to save up for a bigger one. but anyway, i read on the internet somewhere that if your turtle is pregnant it will start sniffing and digging around to look for a place to bury. well...anyway i checked for eggs and there doesnt seem to be any. but its still biting everything. could it still be hungry or something? i dont get it because they both eat the same amount when i feed them. maybe she just has a bigger appetite?

also i didnt really think my turtles were a perfect size. i thought they were kinda small cuz i have alota other friends that have RES and theres grew HUGE in a little over 2 years

Your sliders might be a little small for their age, but most people overfeed their sliders, and they grow too fast. It is NOT normal for a slider to make it to seven or eight inches in two or three years.

You won't be able to see eggs, but usually you can feel them in the body cavity between the shell and the front of the hind legs.

Your turtles are probably just getting too large for thier tank and are getting restless. You can always seperate one into a 44 quart or larger Rubbermaid until you can afford a larger tank. The Rubbermaid is really cheap and can be bought in any home improvement store.

Katrina

they're small cause they're in a small area

i really doubt she has eggs...adult girls are 12" not 4"....boys are smaller, they dont needs all that room to carry eggs.

well thanks for all your replies. nice people!

Sliders can develop eggs at smaller than 12 inches. Six might be the minimum (probably more like seven), but I've taken in one 8" female with 13 eggs.

Katrina

females are mature around 5yrs/5inches. A FULL GROWN female is about a foot.

In my experience, age has little to do with sexual maturity in sliders. Size is by far the most important factor in most turtles' sexual maturity. I've had dozens of sliders through my house in the last few years, and have never had a gravid slider at 5", or even at 6". I palpate every female that comes in.

Katrina