When a Pair of Turtles are Well Suited to One Another

If you keep adult specimens, you will quite naturally want to breed them. The most important prerequisite for this, apart from a first-rate feeding program, is a well-fitted aqua-terrarium, since aquatic turtles can be bred indoors. It is important that the individuals themselves be "compatible."

It is not unusual to see turtles display a distinct aversion to a particular partner, while they immediately take to a replacement of the same—and this pair will soon proceed to courtship and mating.

When a pair of turtles are well suited to one another, they will indulge in various courtship preliminaries almost constantly, though as a rule copulation itself takes place only in the evening. A water change prior to their being placed together may have a stimulating effect on them.

When females are ready to lay eggs they become noticeably restless. They take to the land and move around in an agitated fashion, often attempting to climb out of the tank. A female that is about to lay eggs may also return briefly to the water before leaving it once more, very unsettled.

It often happens that she will dig holes in several places before she finds a place that is acceptable to her. Female turtles excavate their hollows laboriously with their hind legs. These hollows are vertical, pear-shaped holes, wider at the bottom than at the top.

During the actual laying process, each emerging egg has its descent slowed as the female carefully guides it with her hind leg down into the hole or onto the rest of the clutch. Once the laying procedure is concluded, the hole is covered over and the earth patted down onto the eggs so that the spot under which the eggs are hidden will be difficult to recognize.

In large aqua-terrariums with a large land zone (soil temperature 79°F to 86°F [26°C to 30°C]), the eggs can be left in the nest hole. However, the clutch should be cordoned off with a close-meshed piece of wire netting to deter other females from digging in the same spot.

This measure will also help to prevent the freshly hatched youngsters from diving straight into the water, where they may be looked on as fair game by the larger turtles—and eaten. However, the wire-netting cage must be big enough to offer the hatchlings sufficient room to move around freely.

But if preferred—and this is probably a better approach—the eggs can be dug out after they have been laid and transferred to an "incubator" kept at a steady, warm temperature. Such incubators can be made from small fish tanks and a small-wattage light bulb or purchased from horticultural suppliers (incubators used for growing plant seedlings can be used as turtle incubators).

It is often stated that when turtle eggs are moved for incubation, their exact orientation should be noted (by marking with a pen), as unnecessary movement of fertile eggs may result in embryo damage. The recent experience of some herpetologists now suggests that such specific reorientation is not always necessary.

When removed from the aqua-terrarium, the hard-shelled eggs should be gently embedded in moistened, but not too wet, peat. The eggs should be buried at a depth of 2 to 4 inches. In order to sterilize the peat, pour boiling water over it. Vermiculite can be used in place of peat. Excessive moisture must always be avoided.

The incubation temperature should be held steady in the region of 82°F to 86°F (28°C to 30°C), and hatching often occurs (depending on the species of turtle) after 70 to 100 days. Once out of their eggs, the hatchlings can be raised as described earlier in this chapter.

Although it is difficult to generalize, many of the commonly kept aquatic turtles mature at several years of age, and the males can often be distinguished by the longer claws on their front legs.