"Male RES will rarely exceed 5" in captivity."



Please tell that to the 6" and 7" males I have for adoption right now. I even received an 8" male once. Perhaps males rarely exceed 5" in the wild?



"Plain old Red-eared sliders are a hardy and rewarding speies, however they are very aggressive turtles (particularly the males) and don't mix particularly well with others."



Just from the animals I've received into rescue, I've found that eastern painteds - or at least the males - are much more agressive. Most of the agression issues (turtle on turtle anyway) I've seen with sliders were the result of too little space for too many turtles.



"Although they require a fairly warm environment, dull old African Mud turtles (several species available - Pelousious and Pelomedusa)fall into the '"can't-kill- them-with-a-stick"' category of hardiness."



The problem with most of those is that older juveniles and adults are usually wild-caught. I received a Pelomedusa that died within a week of shipping from a dealer - it was a 5" WC and had shell, liver, lung, and kidney infections.



Painted turtles, sliders, and some mud/musk turtles are commonly captive bred, making them a better choice for many beginners, depending on how big of a tank one is willing to provide.



Katrina

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