Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 3 RES. One is about 4 inches. It's a male and is starting to develop his long claws. Another is prolly around 3 1/2 inches. I don't really notice they claws being any longer. It's also quite a bit thicker than my male. and i have a 2 - 2 1/2 inch little guy. So my problem is my 4 inche is claw rapping the eyes and face of my 2 inch. (a mating behaviour) If my 2 inch is a female, she's far from being ready, or able to reproduce. Are the advances of my 4 inch going to stress out my 2 inch, and if so what should i do?

As well, my 3 inch is aslo starting to claw rap, but he only does it to my 4 inch. Which would make sense. When females are at breeding size they're usually an inch or so larger then the males. Is the claw rapping a definative sign of maleness? 'cause my 3 inch has the rotund shell of a female.

anyway, if anyone know's i'd love to hear from you

My two males do the mating dance to each other, so that doesn't mean you have a female. I don't think the dance stressing them out, although having a much larger turtle in the tank can cause some stress. I can't help you too much with the mating, because I only have males.
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Well, I wouldn't keep the littlest in with the biggest one anyway - the size difference is starting to get too large, and you're risking injury to the smallest, not due to breeding behavior, just due to regular turlte behavior (eating smaller things!).

As for sizes for female maturity, most females seem to be able to lay eggs around 7", although I won't say for certain that a 6" couldn't lay eggs. Definately not below 6".

Katrina