About Yexalen Expertise I am experienced with the care, lighting, heating, breeding, sexing, species identification, and general keeping of mostly aquatic turtles. I also have experience with tortoises and land turtles and can certainly research any question that I do not know the answer. I can not answer medical related questions as I am not veterinarian certified. I prefer not to answer questions on animals that you or somebody else has taken out of their natural environment unless the animal was in danger, ill, or injured.
Experience I have owned six aquatic turtles and have been researching turtles for several years. I have been on several question and answer sites under this category. I also have started up a web site focused on reptile care with a portion of it for turtles.
Education/Credentials I have been around turtles sense a very young age and always found them fascinating and because of that it has lead me to researching day after day, reading book after book, and finding endless amounts of web sites with information.
Expert: Yexalen Date: 7/13/2008 Subject: should i add another turtle
Question QUESTION: Hi, I have a yellow belly slider aquatic turtle for about a year now and its about the size of a half dollar and i was wondering if i could get another turtle like a painted turtle or a red eared slider and have it in the same tank with it. but should i be cornered on what sex it is or if they fight or is it a just a bad idea because i don't want anything happen my tutrle that I have right now
ANSWER: Hi Carolyn, your turtle should be bigger then that by now, do you have proper heating, uv lighting, and all the other care aspects reached?
If you want to get another turtle it must be another Yellow Belly Slider. Although they have the same care as most aquatic turtles they can be more dominant and territorial when it comes to another species in their territory.
Territorial and dominant fighting can occur if the enclosure isn't big enough so thats another thing to keep in mind.
2 males can and most likely will fight to the death wether be the same species or different species.
2 females can get along but be aware that a female will lay eggs multiple times a year even without mating and you must have the proper setup for them to lay their infertile eggs or they can become egg bound and die. Also, Egg laying is very stressful and sometimes fatal procedures. The turtles can be damaged, stop eating, become sick and many other possibilities while carrying eggs.
1male 1female will mate and then you will have egg laying to deal with and what to do with the eggs, freeze them and toss them, or incubate and hatch them. Are you prepared for 20 hatchling turtles? They do not sell for very much so dont think of making any profit off of them. They need a lot of space in an enclosure if you expect to keep them.
These are all things to keep in mind.
Now with that information you can decide wether its worth the "risk" or if there is a "risk" or what step you want to take next.
Good luck
Yexalen
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: ok thanks i not going to get another turtle now but i am now kind of worried that my turtle is not the size it should be i have a heated light that i run for about 10-13 hours a day,a flirter, a rock for him to get out of the water and the tank is a 10 gallon. am i doing something wrong or not doing something that is affecting his growth?
Answer Hi Carolyn, do you have full spectrum UV lighting? If not then there is your problem. They need it for many different reasons. A larger tank wouldnt hurt either.
Turtles all grow at different rates but usually hatchling/young turtles double in size every year until they are about 4 inches long. So unless your turtle was half the size it was when you got it, there may be a problem
Say you got your turtle last year and he was 1 inch long a year later now and he is 2 inches long. This is normal. Even a slight difference is fine as well.
But if your turtle was 2 inches last year and still 2 inches this year then perhaps something is wrong.
What are your water temperatures and air temperatures?
