Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had 2 turtles now for a bout 2 years. I was thinking about breeding them but i cant seem to find alot of info on the internet. How old do the turtles have to be and how easy is it to breed them. When the female does lay the eggs what do you do with them do you put them in an incubator or do you leave them. Just a few questions that i havent been able to find good answers to. Can someone please help me?

Thank You,
Eric

Tell me more about your turtle setup. What are they in?
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they are in a 20 gallon long tank i will ge a bigger tank if needed they have a nice basking spot and nice plants in the water and a filter and heater. I know hat you need soil and stuff for them to lay but i want to know more about turtle breeding before i do it.

What kind of turtles are these?

Katrina

And I forgot to ask if you've checked your state laws. In some states, you must have a permit to buy, sell, or barter native turtles. If you do get hatchlings, what will you do with them? Your state might require a permit before you can give them away or sell them. In Maryland right now it's still illegal to breed turtles, although we're hoping the regs will change before the year is out.

Katrina

In NY if your turtle lays eggs you have to destroy them. Then again that was a couple years ago when I lived there. The law might have changed since then.

thanks guys i will have to check it out i live in fl i know theres that no turtle under 4in(i think) but i heard they are getting rid of that law by the way i have western painted turtles.

n/p

The no selling turtles under 4 inches is a Federal law. Each state has diff. laws on turtles but every state has the no selling turtles under 4 inches because it's a Federal law. The reason that it is a Federal law is because years ago people would buy baby turtles and keep them in those tiny plastic containers with the palm trees and they would never clean them and children would get salmanilla. The children also put the turtles in their mouths and would get salmanilla and if the turtles is over 4 inches it's harder for a child to get it into their mouth or to keep them in a tiny container. I don't think this law will change anytime soon but then again I don't know because I have not heard anything about it.

I see turtles in almost all stores that are under 4in, why is this?

Because they either disreguard the law and think they can get away with it (because most of the time they do) or they are selling them for educational purposes.

If you want one of those little turtles at the pet store, just tell them youre doing research on turtles or something and thats about all it takes for "educational purposes" at most stores.
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If you want one of those little turtles at the pet store, just tell them youre doing research on turtles or something and thats about all it takes for "educational purposes" at most stores.
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