Can a painted turtle breed with a red eared slider turtle?

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1212461

2026-02-18 01:20

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A Painted Turtle can only "procreate" (have young) with another Painted Turtle but they have been known to "mate" (have sex) with Red Eared Sliders and Yellow Belly Sliders. They probably wouldn't try to mate with any other kind of turtle, other than a similar species of water turtle like maybe a Map Turtle. For instance, a painted Turtle probably would not try to mate with a Soft Shell Turtle or a Snapping Turtle (or any land turtle like a Box turtle) because they would not recognize it as a possible mate. When a Painted Turtle tries to mate with a Slider, it is because its instincts are telling it that based on size, shape, and mating displays and behaviors, etc., it is another Painted Turtle. Interestingly, Red Eared Sliders and Yellow Bellied Sliders rages currently overlap and where they do there is a lot of unsuccessful mating going on between the two species but they cannot procreate. That is part of the "definition" of a separate species.

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