How Big?

[darkdreamer]

I have two turtles at home, I am pretty sure they are red ear Sliders. I got them in China town 5+ years ago, when I got them they were about the size of half dollars, very tiny and small. At the time I didnt know it was illegal for the people selling them to do so due to the fact the turtles were still babies.
Anyhow its 5 years+ later (dont remember exactly how long I have had them)
and they have lived and grown together.
I have a few questions about them, sometimes I see them nose to nose and one of them is patting (best as I can describe it) the others cheeks.
What exactly are they doing. Is this a mateing ritual? or are they just playing?

Also how big can they get. so far one of them is abut 10 to 11" (shell) the other is 7-8" (shell) they seem to get bigger every year. Will they stop growing?

Also what is a really good external canister filter to get, I am using a fluval 404 but it just doesnt seem to cut it. This may be because its 7 years old it has all new propeller and ceramic shaft ect. IT probably due to the fish tank not being filled up all the way.

Thanks guys.

[JLC]

What size tank do you have them in? And are they male or female or one of each? (You can easily tell by looking at the nails on their front feet....males have really long nails...like 1" long....females have little stubby nails.)


My sister had two male red ears that grew up in a shared tank for years. (They started out as little quarter-sized as well....didn't know she'd gotten two males until they were older.) They would flutter their claws along the sides of the face of the other turtle. I don't know why they did this...and I didn't know them well enough to know if it was only one turtle that did it to the other, or if they both did it. It could be a dominance behavior.

I don't know anything about tank filters, so I can't help ya there...but one of the things my sister started doing to help keep the water clean and prolong the life of her filters was to feed the turtles in a separate tub. Every other day, she'd pull them out of their tank and put them into a large plastic tub with a couple inches of water in it, then put their food in there. They'd stay in there until they were done eating.

She still has one of the turtles, and continues this routine to this day. Very healthy, thriving turtle.

[darkdreamer]

What size tank do you have them in? And are they male or female or one of each? (You can easily tell by looking at the nails on their front feet....males have really long nails...like 1" long....females have little stubby nails.)


My sister had two male red ears that grew up in a shared tank for years. (They started out as little quarter-sized as well....didn't know she'd gotten two males until they were older.) They would flutter their claws along the sides of the face of the other turtle. I don't know why they did this...and I didn't know them well enough to know if it was only one turtle that did it to the other, or if they both did it. It could be a dominance behavior.

I don't know anything about tank filters, so I can't help ya there...but one of the things my sister started doing to help keep the water clean and prolong the life of her filters was to feed the turtles in a separate tub. Every other day, she'd pull them out of their tank and put them into a large plastic tub with a couple inches of water in it, then put their food in there. They'd stay in there until they were done eating.

She still has one of the turtles, and continues this routine to this day. Very healthy, thriving turtle.

I dontknow thier sex I will have to see about that, but they both do the flutter thing. Thanks for the tip that is an idea, do water turtles poop and pee after they eat? thats something I havent really monitored heh heh.

I need to get a new tank the one i have is too small, I just cant afford it at the moment. I am hoping I can trade the one I have in for a new one. either that or I am going to have to find a home for them because it is going to be a while till I can afford a new tank set up.

I will most likely just look for a used one.

[JLC]

I think they, like other reptiles, just poop and pee whenever. Feeding in the tub doesn't keep the waste out of their tank, so it still needs filtering and monitoring....but it does keep out all the additional mess that comes from having food in the tank as well.


People are always trying to sell off old tanks...it shouldn't be too hard to find one.

[darkdreamer]

I will take some pics tonight and post them, the feeding in a tub is a great idea, I always have food getting caught under the rocks and nooks where the turtles cant get to.