Three-Striped Mud Turtles: BOLD & PINSTRIPE

cdmay

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I weighed and measured the three-striped muds over the weekend, and the growth difference is amazing!

Pinstripe is 1.25 inches SCL and weighed 8 grams.

Bold measured 1 and 15/16 inches (just a smidge under 2") SCL and weighed 26 grams.

For all intents and purposes, they started out the same size and weight in late August 2018. Yet five months later, the difference in size is incredible.

@cdmay Are both of these turtles growing at a "normal" rate? Not that I know what normal is... :)
Yeah, they both look fine.
 

cdmay

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Thanks. :) Any idea how big they have to get before we can determine their sex?

You should be able to sex them fairly early in their lives. I’ve found wild young stinkers that displayed the tail of a little male that were as small as two inches.
If one of them IS a male, you will start to notice his tail growing thicker and longer...and it he will begin to carry it curled to one side of his rear end, or the other.
 

Pastel Tortie

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We spent the weekend retrofitting and upgrading the 20 gallon long tank the mud turtle hatchlings have been living in for the last few months.

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It is a work in progress, Day 3. For the most part, the tank furnishings go where there turtles want them. Pinstripe is good at letting us know where he wants a rock or plant to go, so he can rest closer to the surface. Bold can stand with his toes on the bottom and stretch upward with that long neck far enough to get his nares out of the water.

Bold doing his impression of a periscope.
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Pastel Tortie

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I measured the turtles on Saturday, while they were out of the enclosure due to remodeling.

February 9, 2019
Bold measured right at 2 inches SCL, and Pinstripe measured 1 and 11/32 inches (almost 1 and 3/8 inches).
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We have had them for almost 6 months now.
 

Pastel Tortie

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The substrate in the mud turtle tank is sand (Imagitarium brand from Petco), with various sizes of river pebbles, Java moss and other plants on top of it. I/we have had some reservations about using sand as a substrate, due to the risk of the turtles ingesting it and possibly becoming impacted.

We did not want to use aquarium gravel because the pieces tend to be the same sizes, shapes and colors of various commercial foods we are likely to feed the turtles at some point. This is a special consideration for mud turtles because they often prefer feeding at the bottom of the tank, instead of the water's surface. Eventually, most pellets do sink.

I did a lot of observing the first couple days to see how the turtles would deal with the sand and whether they were likely to eat it. Sure enough, early on Pinstripe got a mouthful of sand particles... and proceeded to spit them out, one by one. So the turtles can tell the difference. :)

It took a while longer (another day or two), but I eventually saw Bold spitting out sand particles as well. Confirmation that both turtles can tell the difference! :D

Bold's favorite food is the Zoo Med Natural Aquatic Turtle Hatchling pellets, which are a different color, but not so different in size, from the sand particles... So that's been a concern. I'm hoping to switch Bold over to the next size up, the Zoo Med Natural Aquatic Turtle Growth formula, which has larger pellets that would be easier to distinguish from the sand particles. So far, Bold isn't nearly as interested in the larger pellets.
 

Pastel Tortie

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Bold and Pinstripe have been busy with landscaping their tank. It's funny... We're finding Java moss and anacharis stems IN their hides now. I don't know how much of that is intentional on their part, but the plants are probably ending up where the turtles like them.

Bold seems pleased with their landscaping efforts.

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Pastel Tortie

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Last night I caught Pinstripe on top of the artificial log hide. Yay! I'm really happy about that because it's the first time I've seen either turtle out of the water. :)

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In some ways, it's surprising to see PINSTRIPE out of the water first. It is BOLD who is the known escape artist!
 
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CarolM

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Last night I caught Pinstripe on top of the artificial log hide. Yay! I'm really happy about that because it's the first time I've seen either turtle out of the water. :)

View attachment 264961

In some ways, it's surprising to see PINSTRIPE out of the water first. It is BOLD who is the known escape artist!
Oh I am loving this thread. I am almost tempted to get a turtle. [emoji6]
 

Pastel Tortie

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Last one for now, but this picture has great detail of Bold doing another periscope impression.
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You can actually see the lines on Bold's plastron where the two hinges are on a three-striped mud turtle.
 

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