Urgent Care :: Two RES Hatchlings - one biting other's tail, new owner

[Amadahy002]

I have been reading different things about aggressive turtles and what to do, but I still have some questions about my situation and am hoping for some advise.

First, I am totally green to the world of turtle care. I have experience with aquarium fish and tank care, but turtles are definately more complicated.

I aquired my hatchlings as a Christmas gift from my husband. He purchased them at a very reperable reptile hobbiest store. They were approximately 1'' - 1 1/2" long when purchased (exactly the same size at time of purchase). Then, I had conflicting feeding information and was feeding them pellets only, twice daily and one grew about 1/2'' and has become very aggressive towards the other. The other turt has not grown at all that I can tell, but is definately still eating.

A few weeks ago, I noticed the very tip of the smaller turtle's tail was missing. I checked it closely, did not see any reddness or blood and therefore did not think much of it. The middle of last week, I noticed the tail had gotten MUCH shorter and I began observing them closely. The bigger one was nipping at the smaller one's tail. He also began hording the food and not allowing the other to eat.

We are moving in a month to a larger house and do to space constraints, I have them in a small 10 gallon tank that I was keeping fairly bare. (two small plants and one basking dock) I have a 50 gallon tank in storage and will have the room for it in our new house and am hoping a larger tank will allow for them each to have more space. However, in the meantime, I have taken steps to attempt to help the small turtle and need some advise as to whether I am doing the right things and if there is anything else I can do before the move to the larger house and therefore larger tank.

1. I purchased several leafy artificial plants, an underwater rock cave, and an additional smaller dock/island in an attempt to give the little one more places to hide and escape his mean tank-mate. This works with fish sometimes but does anyone know if it works with turtles?

NOTE: My initial instict was to seperate them into their own tanks, but given my space constraint here and our pending move, I don't want to do that unless everything else fails. If the hiding place method doesn't work, does anyone know if I can use a tank seperator for the time being? I realize that makes their space that much smaller and it is not ideal.

2. I have changed their feeding regiment. I have stopped feeding as frequently. The larger turt gets pellets once every other day. The smaller turt gets fed in a seperate container and I have been feeding it daily pellets in hopes that it will grow. They both get daily fresh greens. Should I feed the smaller one twice daily to rapidly grow it?

3. The injury itself looks pink and raw in the middle, white towards the edges, but does not seem infected (no puss or weeping and definately no blood.) But I am concerned that will change. I have heard that applying neosporin and dry docking helps the healing process. Should I do this?

The turtle does not exhibit any other signs of weakness or illness. It eats well when I feed it seperately from it's tank-mate, basks regularly, swims strongly, etc. At this point, I am worried, but because it seems so strong otherwise, am not looking for a vet at this point. Should I be? Will the tail grow back?

Other possibly pertinant information about my tank/turtles: Water conditions: 7 Gallons of water. Water Temp: 76-80 degrees, using water heater. Using ReptiSafe water conditioner. Water is filtered by submersible canister filter. Basking conditions: Two foam store-bought basking docks, one partially submersed for water basking and slanted to provide a varying basking temp of 80-90 degrees, the other is much smaller and "floats" with a suction cup attaching it to the side, basking temp is lower at 75-85 degrees. UVB basking light provided. Tank information: 10 gallons, not near a window, not in a room with a lot of activity.


THANK YOU and sorry this is SOOO long.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

If the tail is missing,i would take the turtle to a vet ASAP! If you wait any longer,your turtles tail can get infected and it could lead to septicemia.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Unfortunately the tail will not grow back, but it is good that you are trying to resolve this issue. A bigger tank may help, but keep in mind that if the "pestering" from the bigger turt continues, you may have no choice but to separate them permanently in their own tanks or give away one of the turtles & keep one only.

When are you moving? One temporary solution is to separate the turtles during the day (I used to have 2 turts that fought all day long & I had to do this). If you have a temporary container that you can use to swap one into during the day so the turtles won't be in each others' way, that would help (and you can alternate them so Mondays would be turtle 1 in the temp habitat, Tues = turtle 2, Wed. = turtle 1, etc.). I don't know where you live, but if you are in a warmer climate like Florida, this would be a decent short-term solution since you won't have to buy an entire setup. You can just get a rubbermaid container with a rock for the turtle to sit on & dry off & the water would stay a decent temperature without a heater (measure the water temp to make sure!). You can just empty/refill the water daily in the temp setup. Again, this depends on WHEN you are moving. If it won't be for a few months, then pulling the other 50 gal tank out of storage would be a good idea. If it is in 2-3 weeks, then you can do the temporary thing I mentioned above.

Don't feed the smaller one twice a day. A turtle's growth is partially genetic and feeding him more can only lead to health problems. How much are you feeding them when you feed them pellets? The rule of thumb is to feed them the amount of pellets that would fit into the turtle's head if it were hollow. So since they are both hatchlings, they should have some pellets daily (even the one that is growing fast). Lettuce daily is good for both too.

[marisa]

The tank is really too small for them (even one of them).
I would try to find a way to separate them---you could get a 50-gallon Rubbermaid storage container and keep one of them in that for the time being (then clean it and use it for storage after you move). Each set-up should have it's own equipment.

The one turtle will likely keep biting at the tail of the other (open wound and the scent it has), and if he keeps going he could start biting the cloaca (anal vent) and the health problem of the one will be magnified. The wound should be kept clean (keep the turtle in clean water). If you can, get some chlorohexidine (you can buy it in drug stores under the name Hibiclens) and clean the wound once or twice a day. You could also put a little Neosporin on the wound to help it heal.

[Amadahy002]

Thanks so much for the advise. I realize the 10 gallon is too small for either of them, but unfortunately the turtles themselves were a surprise that wasn't given as much thought as it should have and now I"m stuck. Unfortunately as well, I do not have room in this place to set up my 50 gallon here. We aren't moving until April so I don't think the temp solution is going to work. I do live in the San Francisco Bay Area where the climate is fairly mild and steady, but I'm going to see about borrowing a 20 gallon tank that I can find a place for here and seperate them. Also, I may have a back-up solution if he is still pestering the other one in the big tank once we are moved. Yikes, I feel like a terrible pet owner. I'm glad to have come upon this site for help. Thanks again. Too bad his tail won't grow back. Poor little guy...or girl...they are too small for me to tell.