Urgent Care :: Prevent turtle mating?

[sparta308]

I have two red eared sliders, one male, one female. I love them very much, as I've had them for the past four years. I've been raising them since they were little babies, and now they've grown up... a little too much sometimes I think.
He's been doing the mating dance to her recently, and it's been getting worse and worse. He's got to the point that he is constantly biting her and is generally harassing her. She seems relatively uninterested in him, but tonight I first saw him almost vertical on her, trying to complete the mating ritual. She didn't seem to resist like many of the other times. So, I interrupted them and pulled him out of the water. I don't want them to mate because we can barely take care of these turtles; it wouldn't be advisable to have twenty more after she lays eggs. I really don't want them to mate, and I'm a little concerned for her well-being. I've separated them before, but when I did, he stopped eating normally. I ended up putting them back in the same tank; in the mean time, the other tank's heater broke, so I'm left with two turtles... one of which wants to mate with the female.
I know that if she is carrying eggs (which I certainly hope she isn't), she cannot have them because it is impossible for us to make a place for her to lay them. I've read that she will store them in her for approximately two months before they start to break and can kill her. I understand that our vet may be able to massage the eggs out of her, or give her a shot to break them down. I don't know what to do... I'm considering going to get a new heater tomorrow so I can separate them again.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank so so much!
-Matt

[TheComputerGremlin]

Wow, so yeah. First and foremost, if you have a male and a female of maturity in the same tank, you won't always be there to stop any mating, so right now, you need to be on egg alert. Assume that it has already happened. You need to focus on your girl and getting those eggs out. I'm sure you can provide a nesting area for her, I bet even if you got a rubbermaid container and filled it with sand/soil, you could put her in there and leave her be to lay the eggs. You don't want her to die. And since you found out she was female, she would lay eggs eventually, mated with or not, so this was going to come up eventually.

As for the eggs she lays, if you aren't so much against abortion, you can crack the eggs and dispose of the contents. Don't just throw out the eggs, one could still hatch. You need to crack them to prevent babies. You could also probably find out if anyone would want the eggs to care for them, but that's probably a stretch.

You can separate them, but just be aware that the damage is probably already done. Take care of your girl!

[sparta308]

I mean, her appetite is great... she eats every day, just like she has for the past 4 years. I don't think she's experiencing any problems there. Are there any signs that she is carrying eggs?
-Matt

[megcornell]

Yes. If she is gravid, she'll try to get out of the tank any way she can. Sometimes females will stop eating as well and will claw at their hind region. Why are you unable to make a nest site for her? Your vet can give her oxytocin to induce egg laying but that is a last resort.

Here's a link on turtle eggs and reproduction:
http://www.redearslider.com/reproduction.html

As for the male, you need to separate them. The eggs aren't your biggest problem, the female will lay them with or without the male, and you can break them if you don't want hatchlings. Keep in mind that most young clutches aren't viable anyways. Your bigger problem will quickly become aggression. Not only from the male trying to mate, but from the female defending herself. She's more than likely going to get very fed up with his advances and will attack him. This can result in serious injuries to male turtles because the females are larger and can kill them.

For the safety of both animals you need to separate them. They both will be much happier. The male may take a few days to start eating due to the new environment but that's to be expected with any change.

[sparta308]

We have no room for a nesting site, and either way... I know the person above said that it was reasonable to assume that she is carrying eggs. But what can I do to confirm it; yeah x-rays are one possibility, but that's on an extreme case.
-Matt

[megcornell]

I don't know what you mean you have no room for a nesting site. . . why can't you put one in a corner of a room or in a bathroom? It's not permanent, just something to put her in for a few hours over the course of a few days.

A vet can xray, I didn't mention that earlier, but that's a possibility. Or you can very gently feel in front of her back legs.

Your best course of action is to separate them and watch the female for signs of being gravid. They are better outlined in the section on reproduction I linked to earlier, go ahead and read that.

[FLhaven4strays]

You'll HAVE to provide a nesting area sooner or later if you have a female. They lay eggs even if there's no male around. Buy a cheap rubbermaid container ($10 or so at walmart) and fill w/ a sand / soil mix. She'll be needing to use it eventually, and you can always put the lid on & tuck it away until you need it.

[industrial_girl_2000]

It sounds like your turtles need to be separated.

I had a similar situation a long time ago when I had my Sheba with a male named Nelson in the same tank. They fluttered & bit & fought each other every day to the point where Nelson had missing front claws and ended up with a dislocated tail. The fighting was so loud it would literally wake the dead! Those 2 could NOT be in the same tank without attacking each other in a very violent way. It started off innocently enough, with them just fluttering at each other, but the violence just got worse & worse. It was terrible & I was afraid someone was going to lose an eye!

I eventually had to give Nelson away to a friend so now Sheba is by herself. She is very happy in her gigantic tank without having her "frenemy" in the tank with her, LOL.