Sort of a strange story... About a year ago I took in a juvenile southern painted turtle as a rescue. She was a juvenile when I got her but still too small to sex. However, now she's big enough that I am positive she's a female. I believe she is now full grown, or not far from being full grown. She's the largest turtle in my community tank, which includes a similarly sized female Mississippi map, an unsexed juvenile yellow-belly slider, a midland painted hatchling, and some native fish I'm harboring for a friend currently (although they may end up becoming my pets). I recently picked up an adult male Northern black-knobbed map turtle. I showed up at the pet store to buy a DBT, only to find out that it had been sold just before I got there. I saw the map and bought him instead (for a great price too, cheaper than the DBT would have been). I figured it would be a good long-term tank mate for my painteds, since they're pretty docile, they like to bask, and they tend to stay on the smaller side. Plus my Mississippi and YBS will eventually get too big to be with the painteds. He has been doing well with my other turtles, and has integrated himself into the group. He's also very active and interesting to watch.
A few weeks after introducing him to my tank, I saw something a bit bizarre. I came downstairs one night to check on the turtles. The blue nighttime light was on, and when I looked into the tank, I could see that the black-knob was circling around my southern painted, bobbing his head, vibrating his claws, etc. I have kept North American basking-type pond turtles in multiple-species tanks like this before, but normally just as hatchlings or juveniles. I have seen them do the so-called "mating" dance numerous times, regardless of the species. I think I might've posted a thread asking about this behavior before, and found out that it's often just them being social and isn't necessarily attributed to mating. However, after watching the male do this for a few minutes, the painted began to show some interest. Or at least, that's what it looked like. I'm not an expert, and truthfully don't know much about reproduction of turtles.
Anyways, what eventually ended up happening was the map mounted the painted, interlocked his tail with hers, and appeared to mate with her. I couldn't see that well and their tails and legs sort of covered everything up. I didn't stick around to see how long they did this, and I haven't seen them do it since. Now, I know this may sound a bit ridiculous, but I'm just trying to play it safe and be prepared in the event that for whatever reason, two of my turtles of two different species decided to mate for no apparent reason, and then if my turtle becomes gravid and I have to deal with hatching out hybrids (which can be a whole other issue).
My first question is, what is a good method of telling if a turtle is gravid? I've heard of feeling them for bumps, but I was recently told this can damage the eggs. And if she is gravid... what do I do then? I don't want anyone to get ahead of themselves and worry about explaining the whole science of turtle-breeding, and in the event that my turtle does become impregnated I can always do more research and come back to this thread. I also don't really want to separate any of my turtles unless there's a need to, so for now I'm keeping the black-knob with the others. For now, I'd just like to know what signs to watch for if my turtle is going to be having babies.
A few weeks after introducing him to my tank, I saw something a bit bizarre. I came downstairs one night to check on the turtles. The blue nighttime light was on, and when I looked into the tank, I could see that the black-knob was circling around my southern painted, bobbing his head, vibrating his claws, etc. I have kept North American basking-type pond turtles in multiple-species tanks like this before, but normally just as hatchlings or juveniles. I have seen them do the so-called "mating" dance numerous times, regardless of the species. I think I might've posted a thread asking about this behavior before, and found out that it's often just them being social and isn't necessarily attributed to mating. However, after watching the male do this for a few minutes, the painted began to show some interest. Or at least, that's what it looked like. I'm not an expert, and truthfully don't know much about reproduction of turtles.
Anyways, what eventually ended up happening was the map mounted the painted, interlocked his tail with hers, and appeared to mate with her. I couldn't see that well and their tails and legs sort of covered everything up. I didn't stick around to see how long they did this, and I haven't seen them do it since. Now, I know this may sound a bit ridiculous, but I'm just trying to play it safe and be prepared in the event that for whatever reason, two of my turtles of two different species decided to mate for no apparent reason, and then if my turtle becomes gravid and I have to deal with hatching out hybrids (which can be a whole other issue).
My first question is, what is a good method of telling if a turtle is gravid? I've heard of feeling them for bumps, but I was recently told this can damage the eggs. And if she is gravid... what do I do then? I don't want anyone to get ahead of themselves and worry about explaining the whole science of turtle-breeding, and in the event that my turtle does become impregnated I can always do more research and come back to this thread. I also don't really want to separate any of my turtles unless there's a need to, so for now I'm keeping the black-knob with the others. For now, I'd just like to know what signs to watch for if my turtle is going to be having babies.
