BREEDING YELLY BELLY SLIDERS

Question
Hi,

I have recently acquired 3 yellow belly sliders and they are gorgeous. I was told they were all female but have since worked out that there are 2 males and one female. There are 2 big ones and one small one, the big ones are one of each and the small one is male. They are doing the mating dance. They live in my aquarium, The big male dooes a lot of digging. Please can you give me some in depth instructions on breeding them and rearing successfully? I live in the U.K.,

Kind regards,

Angie x

Answer
Hello Angie, the digging makes it sound like their enclosure is too small, he needs more space, especially with two males they can be very territorial and he wants his own space. It is highly recommended that you separate the two males. Territorial disputes often end fatal. The mating dance can also be considered fighting behavior when between two males. It is a dominant "who is boss" type of thing. How big is your aquarium? (Gallons is best but I can work with liters as well or cm or inches measurements too) As far as mating them, they need to be at least 4 inches (for males) 6 inches (for females) or larger to be able to mate successfully. There is a lot of information on how to breed and care for them correctly I will give you a couple of helpful links.

Yellow Belly Sliders care and breeding is the same as that of the red ear slider.

Because there is more information on RES turtles the links will be focused for them, but same exact info.

http://redearslider.com

http://happyturtle.ms11.net/breeding.html


If you want more information or clarification about information I gave you or about articles on the links let me know.

Best of luck
Yexalen