Feeding and Nutrition :: my turtle is small?

[yumikoinichi]

i have had my red ear slider qiuqiu since november 2013 so now he's around 6 months now according to the date of me buying him as a starting point.he is now only around 2.36 inches long i mean the shell long.he is kinda small rite? he grew rapidly the first three months coz i overfed and he has the growth ring or something u know the black colored gap between the segments of the scutes?yea but the growth ring is not so big already but still my turtle is small.he eats once a day and i give him like 6 to 7 pellets of Aquadene.is there a problem in this?and also throughout the whole period of him living in my home,like since i bought him,he has this darked coloured spot (its like a pattern) andinjury the places is like left side and right side at the same spot at the bottom shell.at first i was scared that its blood poisoning but he doesnt have aninjury and he has had that since like three months ago and he'sperfectly normal and active.he is super smart he watches tv and wakes up on time every morning like an alarm clock.he listens to me as well like i ask him to come to me abd he will do that.why is my turtle small?thank you.

[steve]

The size sounds OK, is he getting anything else besides pellets? Can you post a picture of his shell?

[yumikoinichi]

it was a long time ago that i gave him vegetables.will remember to give him now...mostly pellets coz i dunno what veges to give him plus i dont know which vege is which so yeah.will give him more often then.
the photo ill upload later thanks.glad to hear his size is okay.

[yumikoinichi]

[steve]

Looks fine from that shot, do you have one from the top?

[yumikoinichi]

he only has the spots on his bottom shell.if what u mean is a flat bottom shell, like lay him flat, sorry i cnt do that.he is super active everytime he is downside up,he will squirm and get up almost immediately....he super fast in that branch.he also runs super fast like its so hard catching him if he is put on the floor..really.it is super hard for him to stay still.he is always on the move and this picture i only managed to get it coz he glanced at the tv and momentarily stopped moving about.he loves tv.the direction of his eyes is where my tv is haha.

[yumikoinichi]

glad to know its fine.maybe its his birthmark or something.thanks for replying tho.really appreciate it

[steve]

Not sure what spots but most RES will loose those patterns on the plastron. Dark brown blotches will replace them. If it's a reddish color, there might be some irritation or abrasion.

[yumikoinichi]

its not reddish.its dark brown kinda.so i guess its nothing serious huh.hope so.thanks:) really?now thats why when i looked ar res images they dont hv the green eyes thingy on the plastron and that made me think did i identify the species wrongly?haha glad to hear he's okay.thank you

[steve]

Yea, they will all lose it. It's too bad because they are all unique, like finger prints.

[ljapa]

I think Steve has covered the question of the shell coloration, but I have to comment on something else.

This is the clearest picture I've seen of a RES smaller than 4" shell length where the gender seems clear. The cloaca and tail length so clearly scream male compared to my turtle at that size that ultimately was a confirmed female. Obviously, the nails have yet to grow, but your photo makes me wonder if RES can't be sexed earlier than 4".

[steve]

I think people have pointed out males at around 3.5", so I think you're onto something.

[yumikoinichi]

Ijapa:Wow.really? My turtle and i feel so special haha...ive always have this sixth sense that my turtle is a male since my parents bought and brought it home...happy that my prediction is true lol...haha.

So to both Ijapa and steve...my turtle actually did the mating dance just now...haha.i only have one turtle and my turtle actually did the mating dance to a fake turtle made of wood. My turtle is under a year old and when he did the mating thing i was so shocked and i laughed till my sides hurt.he was fluttering his claws so excitedly that it makes me feel guilty to let him be the only one in the tank coz scared of diseases brought by new turtle and the turtles they sell here is very very small hatchlings and scared that my turtle might hurt the smaller ones coz he bit me twice by accident and it really hurts (strong bite). The toy wasnt even realistic and it was smaller than my thumb...he only saw the wooden small fake turtle the first time and he jumped into the mating dance rite away.i tried it again and again and he still did the mating dance.too much testerone maybe haha.so cute to watch.i had a bigger turtle toy,a plush toy about the size of my palm and that he didnt even bother to look at it as if he knows that it wasnt real.so i was shocked when he reacted that way with the new wooden thing.i didnt pu any of the toys into the tank tho.only put it outside tha tank.two plush toy and today a tiny wooden one.i think that kinda showed me more proof that he was indeeed a boy.so is that normal?maybe he matures faster than others?i mean with the clear as the daylight male feature and earlier sexual maturing?i dunoo.it was cute tho.the mating dance he was so excited.

[steve]

Fluttering could also be a form of aggression (males and females can do this), so maybe he wants to pick a fight with that statue

[yumikoinichi]

Yesterday after he did the fluttering thing, i took the wooden toy away in front of him.And today this morning actually ,when i put the toy in front of my turtle again,he was like scared of that thing. He just looked at it then squeeze his head into the shell and swim away haha.