Other Turtle Discussion :: Vicious RES's!

[Tony]

My wife and I have two 4" RES and these things are MEAN! They are a year old and we have had them for 9 months! We fed them every day until recently, which we now feed every other day. Anytime we handle them they have their mouth wide open, hissing and snaping at us! No mater how much we hold them or give them attention they are still mean. As soon as we walk in the room they dive off the dock and start going crazy trying to hide or get away! When we have them in our hands they start kicking/scratching and stretching there head out and all around as far as possible along with the hissing and snapping at us. It's like they are throwing a fit. If they are not doing that, they are hiding in there shell.

One time I put one close to my shirt to see if it would actually bite me and sure enough it did and wouldn't let go. It reminded me of a pitbull....lol!

We went home for Christmas, so we put a dozen goldfish and a dozen guppies in their tank thinking that if they were real hungry they would eat some over the 9 day period without food. We came back and they were all gone including the 3in pleco!

i also have redbelly piranhas, so I planned on taking the left overs out of the turtle tank and giving them to the piranhas when we got home. Thats why I put somany fish with the turtles. Didn't think they would eat all of them.

We just recently added two 1" baby sliders with them and we have to seperate them at feeding time because they will not let the babys eat! They will push them and fling them accross the tank and I've seen them even snap at the babies! Besides feeding time, they actually get along nicely. When we sneak in the room, alot of the times the babies are on the big ones back or they are all in aline with there heads up towards the light.

Also the meaner of the two (the female) bit off a part of the others tail! It is alomost all grown back now though.

Are anyone elses RES like this?

[sonyj]

Some RES are more aggressive than others. But a word of advice, remove the babies from the larger ones altogether. You should never keep turtles of different sizes together. There was a post on here not long ago about a larger RES eating/killing a baby turtle that was put in it's tank. You don't want them to get hurt so the little ones need their own set-up until they get closer to the size of the others.

BTW, don't feed goldfish as feeders. Guppies or rosy reds are fine. Goldfish are too fatty and carry parasites and diseases. RES are opportunistic eaters and will eat just about anything you put in with them. But it's up to you to make sure they get a varied diet of pellets(protein) and veggies/plant matter.

[Tony]

Thanks for the info!!

Did not know that.

BTW, just found this site last night, so I am learning alot of new things. We have been doing somethings wrong here and there. We didn't know that RES were so high maintenance. We haven't taken care of them as well as we should have over the past nine months. But now that we found this site, things are going to change!

You know something odd...?? I had black convicts living with the turtles for months! And the convicts used to beat up on the turtles day after day and the turtles would not eat them! The convicts ended up having babies and the turtles would not touch those either! They must of been really scared of them. I ended up getting rid of the convicts because there were to many of them and they would of just kept on breeding over and over. Just thought it was odd how they wouldn't mess with the convicts at all!

[cam722]

Hi and welcome

I had to laugh when you mentioned you had put convicts in with your turtles. I too have convicts but I've never put them in with my turtles.. lol They are nasty little buggers (the fish) but as entertaining as the turtles are.

My turtles act in some what the same as yours. I don't really handle mine that much, they aren't that kind of pet. It's rather normal for an RES to run and hide when you walk into the room or dive in the water when they've been basking. The not sharing the food is rather normal also.. lol even if you feed them every day or multiple times a day they'd still act as if they were starving.. How much and what have you been feeding them?

My turtles are about the same size/age as yours. When they first got feeder fish they'd eat them all down right away.. now they kind of take their time. I've not gotten new fish in months.. last time was this summer and I still have one left. Either the turtles have gotten too lazy to catch it or they just don't care about fish anymore

[Tony]

Since we've had them, we have fed them mostly pellets, dried shrimp, krill, brine shrimp, bloodworms, lettuce, carrots and feeder guppies. And 2 dang plecos (wasn't intentional).

EDIT: And as far as how much? Probably to much. We used to feed them twice a day, then once a day, now every other day. We mix up there diet with what i listed and give them what they can consume in about 3-5 min.

The first week we had the RES, we went out and got 5 neon tetras and 5 zebra danios. I didn't know they would EAT them...lol! I got them to make the tank cooler, not for food! So they had a nice exspensive treat.

When we first got them, we were clueless on how to take care of them. We fed them pellets and set up the tank as a fish tank (bubbles, filter, heater, rocks, decorations, etc) with a floating dock. If you can't tell I wanted fish and the wife wanted turtles. So we got both...lol. My convicts beat her turtles up though. So I won! j/k...

[cam722]

Well the convicts are rather nasty yet adorable fish.. rather agressive parents as I'm sure know. I had a batch of babies in the tank with the parents (hatched in Sept) .. then just before Christmas I saw the breeding signs and the parents picking on the older babies and got them in a tank of their own.. low and behold there are new ones.. I've heard the convicts called the Rabbits of the fish world but I think it's more like the hamsters of the fish world as they breed faster than darn rabbits

I got my convicts to keep a rather nasty blue gourami in line well he picked at them.. they picked at him but once they started breeding I had to get him out of there or he was toast.. so Now I have 3 fish tanks (when all I wanted was a live-bearer community tank) 2 gourami's 7- 4 month old convicts and 2 adults and the baziillion hatchlings Oh and of course the 2 RES, 1 male and 1 female

[reptilegrrl]

Any fish can carry parasites and diseases, not only goldfish. Any fish from a pet store is supect. Fish from chain pet stores typically all share the same water, which is run through one giant filtration system. Rosie reds, in particular, are well-known for being sickly fish. So don't assume that they are safer than goldfish.

[marisa]

Actually parasites are a risk (to a greater or less extent) with most live foods, not only fish.

[pennyharger]

I am brand new to this forum and I am confused first of all how to post, so I am wingin it here...
second, I have two sliders, male and female and they are three. He is biting her on the fleshy part next to her tail and won't let up. She is very upset and I do not know if this, in addition to his serious hand jive, is mating behavior. But I am concerned for her safety and wonder if they have to be separated. He spent the day in our family bathtub andf THAT is not working....anyone help???

[sonyj]

I am brand new to this forum and I am confused first of all how to post, so I am wingin it here...
second, I have two sliders, male and female and they are three. He is biting her on the fleshy part next to her tail and won't let up. She is very upset and I do not know if this, in addition to his serious hand jive, is mating behavior. But I am concerned for her safety and wonder if they have to be separated. He spent the day in our family bathtub andf THAT is not working....anyone help???

I would advise separating them. He could do some serious damage if he continues to bite her. Some RES will not live peacefully together no matter what you try and therefore each must have their own individual habitat with complete set-up(filter, heater, UVB light, Heat light, basking area etc).

Btw, this probably would have been better as a separate post instead of tacked at the end of an older one. More people might notice it as new.

[Buslady]

You are a big ugly pink predator to them, they're not to be a handled pet except for checkups and removal for tank cleanings. They are goiing to try to bite to protect themselves. They're acting totally normall
Red ears are not the best turtle for beginners, they're not all sweet and lovable...leave them in their home and enjoy them on the other side of the glass.



puttin hatchlings with bigger turtles is asking for a tragedy. The babies should be in their own tank. the other two might even attack and kill them.