All Turtles Message Board

VersteckterGeist · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:04 pm Post subject: angsty cooters

okay, some of you guys may remember me, some may not.

i'm having -huge- issues with my red bellied cooters.

the first problem is that they weren't initially red bellied.. they had yellow bellies and resembled some other kinds of turtles.. my sister and i did a LOT of research and tried to find out what species they were.. only to find out, they are indeed red bellied cooters lol. (i bought them online, and the site said they were red bellies.. but they didn't have red bellies until now)

they're starting to get their red bellies. i find this weird because most of the pictures of red bellied babies.. already have red bellies. i'm thinking those are pictures of the northern ones.. and i have florida red bellied cooters.. anyway.. they've finally reached four inches, or they're 3.5 inches maybe.. but soooo close to being four inches. the red on their bellies is finally starting to come out.. but here's the real problem:

turtle aggression

pox and rex (the cooters) are getting really aggressive. when i bought the cooters, the site said that they were a friendly, sociable species.. omg did they lie! lol. pox and rex tear the tank apart constantly.. and they keep doing the little 'happy mating dance' to each other.. when one of them doesn't get to do the dance to the other.. a fight will break out, or they'll rip the turtle deck off of the tank wall.

when they do this.. i usually seperate them. pox got put in time out twice.. and i had to put rex in time out once. it seems to work. after time out.. they calm down for about an hour or so.. then start right back up again.

is this because they're growing older? or because it's winter over here and my room is a tad bit cooler then normal?

also, my red eared slider (dax) never grew yet. well he grew a little bit, but he's still smaller considerably then the other two. does anyone have any clue about growth rates in different species? someone told me he might not grow as big as the other turtles because i found him in the swimming pool after we shocked it. does anyone think this might be true?
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dixieee · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 2:54 am Post subject:

r they 4 inches already?? it is strange cz RES's are almost the fastest growing semi-aquatics and of the biggest ones too Question

the care sheets say that red-bellies are sociable hmm i don't know..just make sure they don't hurt each other. maybe raising the temps will help stopping this "harassment"
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Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

VersteckterGeist · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 5:28 pm Post subject:

i saw that too.. i'm glad i'm not the only one who saw that.. lol. my cooters are really aggressive though. it's kind of scary. my sis and i call them angry samuri.. because that's what they look and act like lol.

okay, i'll try and fix the temp. hopefully that works.

maybe my little turtle will grow lol. he's older then the other two turtles too. i think it might be from the pool water.

i give them one of the turtle conditioners a week too.
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dixieee · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 10:13 am Post subject:

yeah it should be normal if he's ok.

maybe ur cooters had snapping ancestors Wink

_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

turtbert · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 272

my cooters have all been really placid and will quite happily swim up to my hand and be petted! Confused

I only have one cooter now and she is 6" and still very friendly!