Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: New to Forum starting a build soon!

[ohio]

Hi all just wanted to introduce myself. I have been taking care of turtles for quite a while and currently have a red eared slider, yellow bellied slider, and a map turtle all in a 125 gallon tank. I know very well that this tank is too small and that is why I will be doing a 300 gallon rubbermaid stock tank build hopefully in the next coming months.

I have been doing research on this forum and will continue to check back as I start my build. I will also most likely start a thread when I do begin the build.

Tips and tricks are always appreciated!

Here are some pictures of my awesome turtles Chuck, Reggie, and Mappy. The picture of the whole tank was taken before I added a wooden enclosure for the lights on top. (I'm not sure why the image is upside down I can't seem to change it.)

[steve]

Welcome to the forum! Do you have all the genders sorted out? I'd probably ditch the gravel before you start. Looking forward to the build

[ohio]

I haven't been able to gender them completely. They also have quite different ages. Chuck the red eared slider is far older than the other two which I rescued from people who had not been taking proper care of them.

For my build I will be using sand as the substrate so I will definitely be ditching the rocks.

[steve]

Chuck looks to be female. The map probably is too, but I can't tell from that pic.

[ohio]

That's what I have been suspecting. Both the map and chuck have fanned their hands at Reggie before. I used to think it might be a mating sign but now I'm starting to think they did it as a territorial thing.

[steve]

Fanning means exposing male reproductive organ, fluttering means the vibrating nails. Was Reggie harassing them in anyway?

[ohio]

It's definitely twitching. And no they haven't at all been harassed from what I can tell. Chuck seems to be the turtle in charge.

[steve]

Sounds good, hopefully Chuck will keep everyone in line