redearslider.com

Sorry if this is a long posting, just trying to give enough information for an answer. I currently own 2 red eared sliders (1 male 1 female) I've had them for 6 years. The female is about 6-7 inches and the male is 5-6 inches. I dont think they are growing anymore, Im guessing because of the poor living conditions they recieved in the beginning. I was given horrible information (thanks Petco) and they lived in bad conditions for about 4 years. I was told they would like each others companionship and could share a 20 gallon aquarium because they only grow as big ad their aquarium. The crazy thing is they seemed real happy in the 20gal but I wanted to improve their living space and luckily I was given the 100gal. The 100gal is filled to about 90 gallons and has 3 filters, the stock 100 gallon filter (hard to explain it is built in and uses a pump to circulate water through the filter and returns it to the other side) and I added an internal 50 gallon filter to both sides. On top of this I do a 20% water change with a vacuum gravel every 2 weeks, rinse the internal filters every week I don't vacuum the gravel and change the filter media as recommended. I also want to build an above tank basking area but since the tank is currently divided in half I've been having a hard time thinking of a design that would be easily accessible for the turtles.

For the last 5 years they have been sharing the 100gal and for the last year they've been divided from each other. The male started doing the mating dance to the female but the female ignored him, he would nibble at her occasionally but she never seemed to notice or care and I was told that's part of the mating ritual. One day it looked like he attempted to bite her and instead of risking injury to her I divided the tank in half. They can still see each other and have holes big enough to stick their heads through to each other sides but not their bodies. Occasionally they will be at the hole together and show no aggression and the female has started shaking her hands back at him (I don't know if that's good or bad) And when they sleep they both sleep by the divider getting as close as possible. I do not want to keep them split up but I do not know what else to do short of getting another tank and there's no way I could buy a bigger aquarium and I doubt I even have the room for one if I could.

Should I consider taking out the divider and seeing if it was aggression or attempted mating?
If I have to keep them separated will sharing this tank be okay?

Thanks in advance
-Drew

PS I have a lot more questions but these are the important ones.

As far as the above ground basking areas, I had a similar issue. I am having an 8' long tank built, and a 6' basking area would be to heavy to lift off to clean, so I went with 2 4' long areas. Now you will need double the light ect ect, but it should work, and if I need to divide the tank I can do that also.

Now as far as I can tell, the 100 gallon tank for 2 turtles at 7 inches and 6 inches is a tad too small still. Another option for you would be to grab a second tank of 100 gallons off of cl.

Her fluttering means she wants him to back off. Most likely you will have to stick with permanent separation since males could become more aggressive. Even if it appears to have subsided, you cannot constantly watch them.

Ok thanks for the information. My real goal was to get them in the backyard pond if it ever gets completed. I'll have to start searching for other tanks, or maybe a stock tank.

There will be no guarantee that a pond will stop the aggression. My male RES even goes after my female when on land, something I didn't think possible.

Wow I've never heard of a RES attacking another turtle on land before but I guess anything can happen. Thanks for the information I fear I may need to find one a better home before I'm able to have the pond built. I haven't been able to find another large tank that fits my budget and I don't want to give them both subpar living conditions. I've been asking people I trust if they want one and most of them say no while the others want me to include my tank which defeats the purpose. There was one person who was willing to keep it but he also told me that he was going to keep him in a 29 gallon which seemed like a worse living arrangement to me.
I'll continue to attempt to improve their living conditions while trying to figure out what I'm going to do.
An above tank basking area is next so they can get completely out of water I'm starting to fear that my female turtle has mild shell rot but after looking at pictures through the internet I don't know if its shell rot, hard water, algae, or normal.

I am about to take her out the water, dry off her shell, take some pictures and start a new thread. I hope it isn't shell rot. My male turtle has a little algae on his shell but no signs of shell rot (unless its under the algae). I think I should take him out and give him a check up just in case.