Urgent Care :: Aggressiveness and black ears

[Princess3000]

I have two red eared sliders, one being a large 16 year old male and the other a medium 12 years old female. During the warm months, I keep them in a kiddie pool in the backyard with rocks so they can bask in the sunlight. Since it has gotten cooler, I have brought them indoors. What I have noticed is that the female's ears are black now and her shell and skin have turned black as well. She used to have red ears like the male but that has changed. I also noticed that she is extremely aggressive and bites at the male constantly whether it be at his neck or his shell. Whenever she tries to do the vibrating paw ritual with the male he simply tucks himself into his shell and turns away. What I want to know is can turtles get sunburned? The male's ears are still red and he was living in the same container for eight months. What could be the reason her skin and shell have changed color? Why is she so aggressive? Could she have a disease that makes her change color and get more aggressive? Is it a possibility they are both males?

[gwennie]

I think you might have the sexes of your turtles backwards...

The larger turtle sounds like a female and the smaller sounds like a male. Do either of them have longer front claws than the other?

To answer your original question - as red eared slider turtles get older, they often turn very dark like you're describing, especially males.

It's perfectly normal for this to happen - it just means you have very mature (over ten years) turtles ^^

As for the aggression, it could be over space in the tank or wherever you're keeping them - turtles are not best when kept with other turtles. They're solitary creatures. It'd probably be best to separate them, if you can, as soon as you can. One of them will likely be injured from this aggression sooner or later, and it's completely preventable.

[jozzep]

I believe you have 2 males. One of which is becoming melanistic from being outdoors in the sun for long periods of time.
The reason i say male is because melanism usually affects very old male RES. It's not a disease so don't worry, be he will be getting darker and darker till he won't resemble an RES anymore.

[Princess3000]

Thank you gwennie and jozzep. I have them in separate containers now because I wanted to avoid injuring the bigger one. I noticed the larger one has shorter nails then the smaller one. Thanks for the advice.

[TheComputerGremlin]

As the adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words!

We need photos of both of your turtles: head (where you are calling "black"), front claws, underside of the tail showing both length and opening. This will allow us to sex both of them individually, and try to determine whether or not the black is bad.

Honestly, any description of black on a turtle doesn't sound good to me. Yes, turtles darken over age, but we are talking about green to brown, and normally it occurs when they are closer to 2-5 years old, not 12-16 years! Yes, they can get sun burnt, but normally that is only a bit of pink, and it will fade over time, and they are generally smart enough to get out of the sun in time. Do you provide shade for them while they are in the sun?

[Princess3000]

Yes TheComputerGremlin,
I have them in a kiddie pool that is situated under a tree to avoid direct sunlight. When I had them in the direct sunlight, the water would get very warm and I would have to put ice cubes in the water. I will definitely take pictures and post them. That's a good idea.

[marisa]

Being outdoors in the sun for long periods of time does not make a RES melanistic. It is often part of the aging process, and an "old" RES can indeed take on a blackened appearance. Melanism most often occurs in males and is thought to be related to hormones.

[gwennie]

I have a friend in my city who has about 30 turtles, and her boys that have gone dark haven't done so until they were about 10-12 years of age, so I disagree with you there, Marisa. Every turtle is different ^^

When she rescues turtles if the males are very dark, she tends to age them at about ten years or over.

I'm still leaning towards your large one being a female and your smaller a male - but pictures would definitely help get to the bottom of that lol

[steve]

I agree with Marisa that melanism is not related to the sun. My (indoor) RES changed after about 5 yrs, he gets about 5 hours of outdoor time a week during the summer. I'm not sure how long the process will take, though the initial changes were dramatic. I do agree all turts are different and they're still teaching me new things.

[marisa]

Gwennie, I have no idea what you're disagreeing with me about. There was no mention in my post about how old a RES would be before he would become melanistic---I said it was part of the aging process (a RES that's 10 years old has done some aging), and it can vary between turtles, since it goes without saying that every one is different...

[theartbook35]

Interesting topic.

We've mentioned on the forums before about males turning darker as they age.

Just curious, Princess3000, how did both your turtles get along when they were outside? I can only imagine that if they had been fighting they wound have beaten the crap out of each other, and shown signs of it. I'm just wondering what prompted them to have at each other when they came indoors (further making me wonder if it's a space issue).

[jozzep]

Being outdoors in the sun for long periods of time does not make a RES melanistic. It is often part of the aging process, and an "old" RES can indeed take on a blackened appearance. Melanism most often occurs in males and is thought to be related to hormones.

I've read it's because of the sun.....I'm not a scientist or a turtle guru, i just repeat things that i read and learn. I agree hormones do their part since it happens to "most" males, but if the sun has nothing to do with it, how do you explain literally NO melanistic RES raised indoors? (if you know of any please direct to me)

[gwennie]

Gwennie, I have no idea what you're disagreeing with me about. There was no mention in my post about how old a RES would be before he would become melanistic---I said it was part of the aging process (a RES that's 10 years old has done some aging), and it can vary between turtles, since it goes without saying that every one is different...

My mistake! I meant Jax, not you Jax mentions it should happen earlier than 10 years.

[theartbook35]

Being outdoors in the sun for long periods of time does not make a RES melanistic. It is often part of the aging process, and an "old" RES can indeed take on a blackened appearance. Melanism most often occurs in males and is thought to be related to hormones.

I've read it's because of the sun.....I'm not a scientist or a turtle guru, i just repeat things that i read and learn. I agree hormones do their part since it happens to "most" males, but if the sun has nothing to do with it, how do you explain literally NO melanistic RES raised indoors? (if you know of any please direct to me)

Joe... There is someone on this forum with a melanistic male that was raised indoors. It's one of the less active people here. If I could remember the username I'd cough it up.

[marisa]

I've read that it's thought to be hormones and have never read anything about it being caused by sunlight. RES will darken if they bask in the sun (my RES is a basking fool and darkens in the summer when he's out in his stock tank) but I've never considered that to be melanism, just a kind of "tan". And he does lighten up when he's been out of the sun for a while.

RES kept indoors do not become melanistic over time? I'm sorry, I don't believe this.