Always wondered!

[Inferno]

Where is the turtles mom?

[Raphael]

Probably sold by the same pet shop that sold the TMNT. Either that, or she's somewhere, being kept as a breeder turtle.

[Leonardo]

Considering what little I know....
The mom was probably a breeder turtle at some farm.
Then the babies were rounded up when old enough and shipped to the pet store.

Leading to the point of who knows if mom was the same for all four.
Which might explain Raph and Mikey....
   

[Ninjara]

Hoo boy.  Here we go.  I hear one "Your momma"  joke, you will get the first bapping, Leo.

[Aignatius]

It's a big mystery, though there may be some hints in older Mirage comics stories, their mom is simply a big female turtle who lays her eggs and then moves on. They don't give the nest a second thought once the job's done. So it's really a moot point. As far as them being actually related as in having the one or both the same parents, how would they know? But when they refer to Splinter as their father, then they consider themselves brothers, no matter what.

My take on it...  

[Ninjara]

Amen.
  That's the version I have in my head too, Aig.  She laid the eggs and she split.  Who's their daddy?  Who knows?  There could have been more than one father.

 *sigh*  "M" stands for 'many mates'.  Not 'monogamy' in the world of pond turtles and such.

 This always gets me to thinking why some species evolve, or whatever, sticking to one mate their whole life, and others don't.

   But that puts me off topic.  

[Buslady]

taking the notion they are common pet store turtles, maybe from Chinatown even, they were most likely bred in a huge farm in the south. IN large ponds both sexes mingle. The edge of the ponds are sandy for the females to lay eggs. After eggs are laid, they are dug up by the workers and set in a room to incubate artificially. Once hatched they are packed 100s in crates and boxes and shipped off to who knows where. Four lucky babies got dumped and gooped. Most likely the guys aren't really related but who cares, it dont make no difference.

[Aignatius]

Strange, I had four baby turtles in a large glass bowl back in the early 70s. Maybe they're... mine?

Well, no... wrong continent.

Poor things, I knew next to nothing about turtles back then, and they only lived a couple of years. Didn't know what to feed them other than those stupid commercial "turtle food" cans of dried ant larvae. Gack. So, needless to say, I felt a pang of guilt when I saw what happened to these guys. Poor Chet.  I feel his pain.

Must be why I like these guys so much.  Though I think I'd have trouble looking them in the eye when they find I was one of those kids that didn't take proper care of the turtlings... ignorance though it may have been, it still bothers me at times.

OTOH, I presently have a turtle that's about 9-10 years old, and still going strong. Thanks to the internet and its info.  

[Buslady]

Strange, I had four baby turtles in a large glass bowl back in the early 70s. Maybe they're... mine?

Well, no... wrong continent.

Poor things, I knew next to nothing about turtles back then, and they only lived a couple of years. Didn't know what to feed them other than those stupid commercial "turtle food" cans of dried ant larvae. Gack. So, needless to say, I felt a pang of guilt when I saw what happened to these guys. Poor Chet.  I feel his pain.

Must be why I like these guys so much.  Though I think I'd have trouble looking them in the eye when they find I was one of those kids that didn't take proper care of the turtlings... ignorance though it may have been, it still bothers me at times.

OTOH, I presently have a turtle that's about 9-10 years old, and still going strong. Thanks to the internet and its info.  

yah see yer a good turtle mom

when i was a kid someone brought me a hatchling yellow belly slider, we didnt know what to do so we put him in a deathbowl(those turtle lagoons) and fed him dried flies! OMG! he died about 2 mos later. I buried Tommy Turtle in a match box. I remember exactly where too. the only thing we did right was give him unfiltered sunlight.
years later simply cos of the internet, i know tons more and now breeding turtles. YAY internet!

[Aignatius]

Hmm. You wouldn't want to take in another male RES, would you? He needs a good home...
I'll even deliver.  

[Buslady]

Hmm. You wouldn't want to take in another male RES, would you? He needs a good home...
I'll even deliver.  

Only if i had a pond. I had to adopt out Raph, Tokka and Casey..so I have no more RES. Mikey dissapeared and i hope he was found by someone. Eventually I wanna build some kind of aquatic turtle home outside but right now...ain't gonna happen

[Aignatius]

Yeah, a pond. I hear you on that. Is okay, just thought I'd check. I took him in after the kids who raised him had to move. He has for now a 60 gallon aquarium, but I think that's too small for him.  I am looking into a local golf course/country club that has an artificial pond with turtles, I'd heard about.  That might work out okay.

[Buslady]

Yeah, a pond. I hear you on that. Is okay, just thought I'd check. I took him in after the kids who raised him had to move. He has for now a 60 gallon aquarium, but I think that's too small for him.  I am looking into a local golf course/country club that has an artificial pond with turtles, I'd heard about.  That might work out okay.

well if that'll work out. im not a big fan of putting them into something like that cos he's used to being fed and looked after. He could survive fine or he could get sick and die. If you were local it'd be easy, there's two people down ehre who took my turtles. they want more. the problem with RES is that once you got em, they're hard to adopt out. I got lucky. how big is he?

[Aignatius]

He's about 10 years old, and I don't know exactly, I think his shell's 6 inches long or so. And no, ihe's not a female.  

[Buslady]

He's about 10 years old, and I don't know exactly, I think his shell's 6 inches long or so. And no, ihe's not a female.  

if he's 6 inches in a 60 gallon tank, he should be okay. the guidline is 10 gallons per 1" of turtle. as long as it's filtered extremely well and clean he should be okay.
a 6" 10 year old RES is an adult male, no female is 6"! hehe i believe you!