Quick Question About Turtles and One Comment.  5/18/08
First off right now I have a 75 gallon tank set up with a Jebo canister filter for up to a 250 gallon aquarium as well as Jebo UV Sterilizer to keep the water nice and clean.
<Sounds great.>
I have 4 sliders, 2 musk, and 1 mud all are under 4 inches. When they get a bit bigger I will be moving them into a larger tank. Right now they all get along great although in the past few days I have noticed the 3 larger RES have begun to flutter their claws sometimes in a triangular formation all three at the same time - since they are not sexually mature yet - I wonder if they are just playing or trying to see who will be the dominant turtle of the aquarium - from reading a lot of your questions and answers on here I fear that may change - before going out and purchasing the huge stock tank that I was going to get them for all of them to grow into I was wondering if I should at some point think about separating them.
<Males do this "fluttering" thing with their front flippers. You can sex Red Ear Sliders by looking at their front flippers: males have dramatically longer claws. Males also have a longer/thicker tail.>
I don't want to yet since the sliders especially seem to be such buddies as well as the 2 musk turtles - the only one who seems to be a loner is the mud turtle he or she seems to hang out in a corner by a side of the tank where he can see his own reflection which makes me feel bad and almost makes me want to get him a companion.
<Juvenile reptiles may well coexist, and may indeed stick together on the basis of "safety in numbers". After all, juvenile turtles/terrapins are often easy prey for water birds and other predators. It's doubtful whether they form "friendships" as we know them, but there may well be an instinct that keeps them together. That said, captive turtles of all ages do fine on their own.>
I can tell for sure that one of my sliders is going to be a boy his tail in the past few months has gotten extremely long - the other two are still up for debate.
<OK.>
I don't want to bring any more slider hatchlings into the world so would it be the smart thing to do when they get to be mature to separate the males and females for good or only during mating season?
<No risk of unwanted babies. Reptile eggs are difficult to rear without an incubator, so if you don't want the babies, then simply collect and destroy the eggs. The females can become egg bound under certain circumstances, so it isn't all easy going, but that's a discussion for another day.>
I also had a comment about a question sent to you in 2005 about a turtle that wouldn't grow (see: Two Turtles One Problem 12/5/05).
<Indeed?>
I have a red ear slider that I got in July 07 at the same time as another turtle here is a picture of my 4 sliders basking - they are all around the same age - Squirt to the left will not grow is just over an inch.
<Sometimes happens in animals just as with people -- for whatever reason (diet, genetics) the animal fails to grow normally. In fact there's often a lot of variation in adult size among animals, particularly "lower" vertebrates that don't have a fixed adult size (as mammals and birds do) but grow continually through their life. Maximal growth is during the early stages of life, and if for some reason the animal doesn't eat enough during that phase, it may never "catch up" with its peer group even if it otherwise lives a long and happy life. Bullying is actually quite common when juvenile animals are kept together, with males (being more aggressive) often monopolizing food to the detriment of the females. This happens with fish a great deal, but can be observed with many other animals too. Anyway, assuming it is healthy, I wouldn't worry too much.>
I have had him to the vets and tested for parasites and everything else under the sun which cost a fortune. And nothing is wrong with him.
<Good!>
He is not being bullied in the tank - I feed in a separate feeding tank and he is fed first so he gets all the choice food and usually if they pyramid on the other basking site he will climb on top of the other guys and be the top of the pyramid.
<All sounds fine.>
In fact as I am writing you right now he just climbed up on the basking ramp and squeezed in next to the larger one. So I don't think he is not growing from bullying. I know at some point I will have to remove him from the tank for his own safety because I will be afraid they will crush him as they get bigger but right now he seems to be doing okay and they are not aggressive towards him at all.
<See how things go. In a large enough enclosure there may never be problems, but too keep an eye out for trouble. Making sure everyone has easy access to a basking spot will help, for example.>
My vet said that although she has never come across cases like this she assumes that it may happen in the wild and that some turtles like people just don't grow and that in the wild he would have just been eaten by now by a predator.
<Indeed.>
I just wish I could find him another little mini turtle to keep him company.
<Not required; reptiles generally are not gregarious and do fine kept on their own. Indeed, by forcing them to live together in small containers *because we think they need company* we're more likely stressing them.>
Jen
<Thanks for writing, and all very interesting. Cheers, Neale.>
Here is one of squirt alone you can see he is a nice looking little turtle - nice and healthy - trust me he goes to the vets.
<No photographs came through at this end!>

Frantic African Mud Turtle  - 06/07/2006
Hello. I have an African Mud Turtle, given to me 1 year ago in July. Twice now, he has acted very unusual. He has been running up his ramp, jumping into the water, all the while looking frantic! Then he proceeds to try to climb out of the tank by way of the heater, filter, or from the top of the ramp. He has actually flipped himself over attempting this. I have seen what I assume is  his sex organ, and it seems to coincide with this crazy behavior. We have him in  a 40 gallon tank with a ramp and basking light. We keep the water temp at 80  degrees, he eats turtle sticks, and about once a month we give him a few fish to  eat. He does not eat while this behavior is being displayed.  What
is going  on with him? Do you think his living conditions are adequate? We have gravel in  the tank, which he digs in and tries to bury himself at the bottom of the ramp.  This is something he has always done, so I'm assuming this is normal. I have  never had a turtle before, so I don't know much about them. He is a cool pet, we  want to make sure he is healthy and happy! Thanks for your  help.
<Sometimes turtle get stressed out by being in captivity and need a place to hide. I would recommend a cave-like structure be placed in the tank so he can hide when he wants to stay out of site. The area should be big enough to allow him and his shell full movement with no danger of being stuck, but be able to provide some cover. Covering half the tank with plastic or paper may help too. The other reason may be a desire to find a mate to breed. Cool the tank down a few degrees and this should calm his hormones down.-Chuck>