turtles fighting

[nab]

i have a male and female razor back musk and also a male and female common musk, up to the past week they have always got on great but now the male razor back is constantly trying to mate with the female and when she shrugs him off he goes at the little male common he bites his shell by his male bits until the common is forces to fight back, l've been told that the male is sexually frustrated and when he attacks the other male to take him out of the tank and put him alone for a while kind of like a sin bin, just wondering if anyone has had the same problem and has resolved the issue, i'm not in the position to be able to buy a separate tank for the one pair as i've spent a lot on the current set up

thanks Nathan

[wayne020668]

HI NATHAN, this is a pretty common issue in males this time of year... although their are things you could do till this mating urge has passed... you could use the following or all of them as these have proven positive before with the turtles we see here at turtle rescue.
try moving the inside of the tank around regularly, the males will get a little confused by losing their bearings hence calming them a little on the urge to mate, you could also try putting the razorback map out in the garden either in a run or even a small pond, both these can cause them to get tired if they are allowed to wonder around the grass etc, the pond outside can be anything from a paddling pool for kids to a small pond, both these you should be able to get from a site called freecycle, you will need to join your nearest one i.e if you live in Liverpool you would join freecycle Liverpool, its costs nothing and the whole site is about people who want to recycle anything from cups to cars... if you see a pond or tank you want you simply reply asking if you can have this please, if you get it you just collect and say thank you... ITS ALL FREE. the turtle then can stay out side all summer provided they kept safe prom other aniamls i.e mesh etc, and be bought back in for the winter by which time the mating urge will have passed....

hope this helps you regards Wayne.

[nab]

i will certainly look in to that and thank you ever so much for your help and advice, one other quick questions is how old does the female razorback need to be before she can get pergnat and how long will she be pregant for, just so i can sort an incubator out as i do want to breed them as long as its not going to get one hurt in the mean time, a local pet shop said they would incubate the eggs for me but im not 100% if i can trust them

thanks again Nathan

[wayne020668]

hi nab, these animals can and will breed from the ages of three on wards although some will slightly before hand, as for how long she will be pregnant for well thats a little tricky. the female can keep the sperm inside her for several years before choosing to use it so if your going to breed these the best advise i can give you if you want these to breed naturally is to get kitted up before hand... get your incubator first.. i could rattle on for hours about this so don't start me off... anyway they will need to be incubated for around 50 to 70 days at a temp of between 26 to 33c incubation time varies and should never be tried if the temps are not met, if they lay the egg's in the tank you should remove them shortly afterwords so i would advise keeping an eye on her in the egg laying stage, the eggs should be removed as they have been layed and mark the top as you remove them with a cross from a feltip pen and place in the incubator crosses at the top till hatching, they should be placed on a damp medium like damp sand / sphagnum moss / cat litter or the best one vermiculite. you will need to do you home work here but its every turtle keepers dream to breed their turtles but its so worth it....

hope this helps regards wayne...

[nab]

very much so thanks fella