Cross Breeds

Can differnt types of turtles breed and then have cross turtle babies, like dogs do???

i was woundering if you could get a cross breed of turtle?? like a yellow bellied slider with a RED or a chinese softshell with a florida sofshell all comments appreciated,, thanks

Public Comments

1. Only if they are of the same species. You may be able to do so under labratory conditions but the offspring, if it lives at all, will most likely be unable to procreate. look up prezygotic and postzygotic barriers.
2. ummm, I'm not too positive about this but I'm thinking the answer would be no because not all species of animals can cross breed with each other like dogs and cats. like the first examples that come to mind are snakes, you can't breed a boa specie with a python specie or a rattle snake with a king snake. or an iguana with a gecko. lots of animals and reptiles with only breed with their own kind, they know what and what is the correct thing to breed with and the wont breed with anything else. now it may be possible to cross breed them if they tried to use artificial insemination but since how it would not be a normal behavior for the two different breeds of turtle it probably wouldn't work. think about dogs and cats also of the strands of breeds we have today is because for many many years people tried and tried different breeding combinations until they came out with the kind of animal they wanted, so its so successful because its happened for years and years. so i did'nt think you could successfully cross breed a turtle because it is not their natural behavior to mate and they may live together in the same habitat but would not mate with each other.
3. Yes, they can, as long as they're in the same family, for example, you can cross breed a map turtle with a painted turtle, or a slider. Not a softshell though. Here's the thing, you shouldn't try it. Especialy sliders, they are not native to the us, and you shouldn't put an animal held in captivity into or back into the wild. They will most likely starve to death. And they get so big, people let them go because they have no way of housing them after a certain point. So the answer to your question is yes, and they do it in the wild all the time. That's why you'll see a painted turtle with red "ears". :)
4. RES & YBS, yes. They are subspecies of the same species and intergrade in the wild. Chinese and FL softshells, no. They are in different genera. Some fishes can breed with fishes of different genera but turtles can't, no matter what some people think.
5. sometimes
6. The fishes that can cross breed are the same genera, just morphed in different ends of the pond, river or lake. Likewise with turtles, if the peg fits the hole it can happen, (the shape of the shell has something to do with it).
7. red eared turtle's and yellow belly turtle's can they are in the same family but the are a bit different.