Ninja Turtle time!!!!

My neighbor's daughter brought me some turtles today. Her mom wanted to get rid of all of them but I couldn't take all 20 of them!!! So I got 3 turtles now. The little girl new I had alot of fish aquariums and a soft spot for all animals so that is probably why she knew I would take them. Of course with all my friends animals they don't want, they usually come to me. My friends call me the Zoo. It's okay!!! I love animals, what can I say? So ya, my kittens get along with my ducks, my dogs, some of my giant fishes, but the turtles are going to be a hard one to get along with. I put one of the turtles down on the floor and my cat Sox took off after it. Thank goodness it has a shell. Thought I'd share that with ya.

What kind of turtles are they? Please be careful as reptiles can spread salmonella.

Red-ear sliders. I already had a box turtle the cats play with. They throw Ninja(name) around like as he was a ball. Yes, my turtles get check ups too!!! Specially a box turtle that is worth $500 bucks!

wow that's an expensive turtle!!!



Pics???

This is Martha, named after Martha Stewart...(this turtle thinks she knows it all) hehe



I don't have any pictures of my new turtles but these are the ones I already had.



All turtle owners have to have a close up!


There ya go!!!

Chriztal, how on earth did they end up with 20 turtles in the first place?

haha, Well my neighbors daughter Brittany loves catching things. They were at a pond and she had a net so she just kept on catching. LOL, the mom didn't know anything about the turtles. Brittany was hiding them. How can she hide 20 turtles you ask? Brittany had them in a cup, all 20 of them hidden in her closet. I had to get the turtles...Now they are in a turtle tank, basking in the light.

Oh I see! LOL Is there any chance of returning them to the pond that they were taken from? They'd be 'home' then.

The little girl said that all the new construction was killing the fish and the wild life in the pond. They are going to have to drain the pond and put a concrete slab there. I mean, I didn't want to break her heart, but these are little babies, they wouldn't survive with out her or my help.

Very true. I love the close-up pic - beautiful markings.

O I know, the camera really makes them so cute. hehe...The pictures I showed were of my turtles I breed. The new ones the babies are with my mom that just had babies. That way the little new ones from the pond won't be so lonely without their mommy!

Forgive me for being a dunce, but does the Mum lay eggs and then protect them until they hatch? How many in an average sized clutch?

Sliders-
Ha, the female will lay eggs. Pretty much all you have to do is put a male and female box turtle alone together in a seperate tank and they will do the rest. Of coruse the environment for the turtles is a hard set up. The water has to range from 75-85 degrees. The temp of the air above has to be around 90 degrees. The abdomen on the female will be reall swollen indicating that the male has gotten to her. The eggs should hatch from 60-90 days. If they eggs aren't fertile then they won't hatch between this time limit. The least amount of eggs I have gotten is 2, the most has been 11. The mother has to be around 5 years old, the male can be 2 years old. This makes it just right for breeding. Water turtles lay several clutches per summer. Laying takes up to 2 days per clutch. of course after the clutch is over, the eggs are then put in an incubator.
Boxes-
5 years old of course
The thing with boxes are that they have around 2-7 eggs but I have received 8, very happy with that. Clutches usually last 1 to 2 days same as sliders.

The mom doesn't lay on them or anything, they could get crushed. Just like in the wild, the mom would bury them. But here when I breed them and when others breed, they get put in an incubator.

Is that what you wanted to know? lol

Yes! Thankyou for explaining it all.

haha no problem, I just thought of names for the 3 the little girl brought me. American Idol's Simon(mean turtle) Paula(nice turtle) and Randy(fat turtle) hehe...Whatcha think?!?

Pretty Cool.

sure ...haha, I guess! anything else?

Nope.