Do Turtle Species Cross Breed?
I have a 1.5-year-old Male Southern Painted turtle. This weekend we purchased two new hatchlings a Map turtle and a Red Ear Slider. I asked if we could sex the turtles and the person we purchased them through said they were too young. Not thinking about it, I said cool and we brought them home.
When I placed them, in the tank, I noticed that the slider had a longer Caprice, which generally indicates female, and I was not sure about the map. I watched them for a little while just to make sure that my painted turtle was not roughing them up when I noticed him, Fluttering his feet in front of the sliders face. He wasn't harming the slider and I had read that this is the way they Court.
Will my Painted eventually stop courting my other turtles? If not, Do they Cross breed?
Comments
Rofl! @ Dave's answer ( a hillbilly reunion!) But yeah they can crossbreed if they are close in species. Your's could all breed although it's frowned upon. But I don't think you'd see any Sluds
(slider/muds) or Slappers (slider/snappers) lol etc.
Since the new ones are hatchlings, and the painted has been there first, I just want to also address that the mating dance is not just for mating. It's also about dominance. He could just be letting them know "this is my turf, back off!" So watch for any signs of agression. You may have to separate them!
You wont be able to sex the babies until they are sexually mature at about 5 inches. Males will have long foreclaws and a long thick tail with a concave plastron. Females, short claws, short stubby tail.
Yes, they do. It drives the taxonomists who study them nuts. The whole southern Map/Slider complex is like a hillbilly family reunion, with all kinds of unconventional couplings going on. :-D
And Painteds are pretty similar, so it's not a huge surprise that he's courting the Slider. It's a little surprising, since I would guess she's still small, if the seller couldn't sex it. I'd take the Painted's word for it that she's female, though. And, I wouldn't count on him stopping, but I can't guarantee that that particular combination will produce viable offspring. It's possible, though.
idk sounds interesting let me know how it turns out