Urgent Care :: hmmm we are lost

[spaztikone]

We have 3 red eared sliders Domino who is about a month old that our friend found crawling acrost their yard and for some reason decided to bring to us. Which is fine it is doing great here. We also have two other RES Fish (the male) and Frog ( the female) we have had these two for about a year now and got them around the same age as Domino from a Flea Market. about a week or so ago Fish started doing the infamous "Turtle Dance" to the girl Frog and she did it back. so we figured they were competing for territory and decided that it was time to get them each their own 40 gal tank (they share one now) couple days after "the dance" we come home to see the male waving his manly parts around the aquarium. Now our female seems to have become very less active and just wants to sun bathe all day but not out of the water, on a platform just under the waters level. Could she be pregnant?? If she is isn't she still about a year too young? and if she IS pregnant HELP!!!!! what should we do for her?

[steve]

Sexual maturity is believed to be based more on size than on age. How old are your turtles now? Can you answer some of the questions in the link in my signature?

[spaztikone]

the male from tip to tip is about 4.5 inches the female from tip to tip is about 6 inches and 4.75 inches wide. We have had them for about a year when we got them they were smaller then a 50 cent piece. their water is 75 degrees in the shade they have 2 60 watt bulbs that they enjoy basking under and I don't have a proper thermometer to test air temp in their basking area. they have about 30 gallons of water in their 40 gal tank we use Wardley Chlor out and one of those white turtle shaped cuttle rocks every water and filter change which is weekly. they have a Top Fin 60 filter and also have a UVB light in the middle of their 2 60 watts he is eating but she is being kind of picky today about eating which is not like her at all. They eat once every 2 days. they are in a tank not able to be close to a window because of the 19 month old running around moderate activity in the room

[spaztikone]

oh they have two floating docks secured to the side of the tank one larger disc shaped one underneath a traditional turtle dock. the disc submerges just under the water level when they crawl on. they enjoy taking turns crawling underneath the dock and basking on the disc, usually, but the past few days she has been hogging the disc

[spaztikone]

http://www.aquariumguys.com/whisperpower2.html

this is our filter

[steve]

How is she doing today?

[spaztikone]

after taking her out last night to measure her and inspect her and "play" with her for a it she seems to be a bit more active swimming around more and not wanting to stay in the basking area as much..... ???? I don't know.... maybe she just wanted to chill in the light for a few days??? maybe she is just trying to make me nervous?? I dont know

[SpotsMama]

One possibility is that she's feeling stressed by Fish either because of his mating overtures or from a growing conflict over territory. I think you are right to separate them as soon as possible. In addition to the aggression/injury potential, female turtles that have been with males tend to lay more eggs, which is stressful for both the turtle and the turtle keeper. On her own, she'll still lay, but will probably lay less.

It's possible Fish is going to lay sometime soon but her behavior doesn't sound so much like she's gravid as it sounds like she's either nervous or not feeling good. A female that's ready to lay loses her appetite and is frantic to get out of the tank because she wants to lay her eggs on dry land. Here's some info on the subject:

http://www.redearslider.com/reproduction.html

Does she show any other symptoms of illness - irritated eyes, poor appetite, breathing with her mouth open or yawning a lot, swimming lopsided?

[spaztikone]

She is back to just laying between the 2 docks again. she eats but not as much. I am hoping that when I put them in their own separate tanks she will start acting a bit like normal. The male seems to be protective of her always swimming close to her when I goto check on her. maybe she is just tired of him?

[SpotsMama]

Yes, it's likely she's just tired of him. Females commonly react that way to constant overtures from a male. The danger is to the male - she's liable to lash out at him and do him some damage. I hope you can separate them right away.