Do you know any cool fact about turtles you want to share with the class? /genuine
WHEN I SAY THIS I MEAN IT BUT LITERALLY RUNNING IN CIRCLES RN YES FINALLY!!!!!!!!
Ejem.
I'll start with the basics then expanding but also winging it because yes. Under read more because I infodumped hard here
So sliders. Sliders (trachemys) is a genus that lives all of america, and which it's main and most known subspecies, red eared sliders (RES, or scripta elegants) is best know by two things: the fact that it's the most popular type of pet turtle globaly, and that they are STUPIDLY resilient. These two facts, naturally, create the perfect storm for an extremely invasive species due to neglectful or ignorant owners who get tired of the eety beety lil bean once it starts to show it grows to a max size of 12 inches/30cms and lives to even 30 years old.
However, I still think that, in the correct hands, they are a wonderful pet for experimente or mindful owners (what I cathegoryze as mindful is whoever knows ot is open to provide the correct space a goldfish should live in, since it's the same for turtles and plottwist; none of them both is fishbowl or less that 10 gallons option) so some info on them:
When they are tiny, their yolksack cord and egg teeth is visible, and it's so cute because it's this tiny thingy the size of a coin omg 🥺. At this age they are known as hatchlings, and they have certain qualities that only stay on this age;
-color: they are a shiny, beautiful emerald color, with orang-y ears and Grey-blue-ish eyes. As they age, they turn brown while they are juveniles and finally end up black/deep forest green/dark yellowing brown (depends on the specimen)
-diet: when babies, they are mainly carnivores, eating fish, bugs and whatever they can scavange, with plants here and there, but as they age they eat more and more greens, until their diet is around 80% these. In captivity the recommended in protein is crickets, roaches, mealworm, blood worms and feeding fishes, like goopies. On the greener side the recommended is red and green leaf lettuce (avoid iceberg at all coast and only sometimes Roman and buttercup), dandelion leaves and turnip greens, with sometimes endives, kale and escarole. They also like aquatic plants like Amazonian sword, duck weed, moss balls, water lettuces and frogbit, to name some. Some veggies like carrot, bell pepper, sparce fruits like bananas, apples, mango, melon, strawberries, blueberries, papaya and raspberries are also good for em. On store brand pellets zoomed and mazuri are the standard.
But enough about that. One common asked question; how to know their sex? As most reptiles, turtle sex is determined based on the temp the eggs are incubated. There is this myth about how the markings show the sex, but this is a lie, as the markings change depending on the species and subspecies. There is also said that males have a concave plastron and females have a flat one, since it facilitates reproduction. And while it is true, the best way to tell is waiting for em to hit puberty. Once they are 4 inches/10cms long OR one-two years old OR have a black shell, the males start to develop longer claws, which can get to an inch/3cms long. This, plus the cloaca placement/tail size is your best bet, as it is really distinctive and easy to tell male claws from females. Females are also easier to diferenciate due the fact that, once they grow to their whole size, females are the biggest, while males stay at around 25cms or something like that. Tiny guys.
However, I personally knew in mine's case due the fact he showed me his turtle penis while he threw a temper tantrum over me picking him up.
In the reproduction topic. As I've mentioned in another post, they have an apareament dance, known as jazz hands. It's pretty self descriting, as they put their hands next to their face and vibrate them at super speed. This behavior also occurs between territorial fights. Once they got their things settled, the male chases the female and they do the thing. In this, those longer claws we talked about help them stay in place while copulating.
And in that territoriallity note, they are extremely territorial and solitary animals. They need AT LEAST 10 gallos per inch of shell, and can't cohabitate unless they are in like, a pond. However, even then they could become hostile. The hostility signs are mainly stacking (they get one in top the other while basking, they do this to compete for space and UVB/heat from the sun) fighting over food (in captivity, if kept together, sometimes one baby grows faster than the other, this is due that) chasing eachother and actual fighting (biting, scratching, it can go from easily-infectable lacerations to fights-to-death). Due to this and more reasons, unless for breeding and when knowing exactly what you are doing, it is extremely important to NOT cohabitate under any circunstance.
I think I'm leaving it at there for today, might add more in a rb tomorrow, but it's literally midnight and I should sleep lol. Thank you so much for asking! I love so much to talk about these goobers and you made my day (night?) I also wanna mention that I'm constantly learning and that, if any of this info is wrong or outdated, please let me know! With that said, goodnight!
Brilliant anthropomorphic sculpture by Alessandro Gallo at the Foster White gallery in Seattle. I want a pet crab on a leash. And to live in a neighbourhood like Pioneer Square where $10k art pieces sell like nobody ever heard of unsustainable economic growth corrections, and the homeless own the streets.
