I have been a lurker here for awhile, but finally registered to ask about this new problem I am having.
I have had two RES since they were the size of a quarter. That was 12 years ago. I have watched them grow over the years, and they have graduated from a small bowl, through many tanks, and finally I built a 300 gallon pond in my back yard to give them a permanent home. I do not cage them, they are always free to roam the large yard, and they love to hide under the peach tree and bask in the grass. They have several rocks to climb and bask on also, with plenty of shade elsewhere should they desire it. They bask together very often, and sometimes the smaller male will bask on top of the female. My female is 2 to 3 times larger than the male. I call them Mama and Papa.
They mated the last two years resulting in one hatchling each year. Neither survived more than a week. My point to all this is that these two have always lived together, peacefully and happy until recently.
Two weeks ago, I noticed that Papa was not around. I searched and searched, even drained the pond fearing he was lying dead on the bottom. I could not find him. A week went by. During this week, I noticed that Mama was not doing any basking! I even pulled her out once, put her on her basking rock, and she immediately ran for the pond. Very odd behavior...I fear for the health of her shell if she does not get out soon and bask.
That same day, my Wife found a shell lying among some of our taller grass. She went to pick it up and it 'shook', scaring the daylights out of her!
Papa had dug himself a little hole and was pretty much buried up to his shell. I rinsed him off, and much to my delight, found him to be pretty healthy, with the exception of a small sore on his shell, right above his tail.
I put him back in the pond, and immediately tossed in his favorite food. Both turtles devoured the food as they usually do. I thought that all was well, and went into the house. 15 minutes later, I came out to check on things, and Papa was out again, hiding under the peach tree. I figured I would leave him be to do as he pleased.
Another week went by without us sighting him until today, where I found him basking in the grass alone. Figuring he must be hungry, I repeated last week’s actions, and put him in the pond to feed. Both turtles ate again......but once the food was gone, Mama turned on Papa and chased him around the pond! I had no idea either of them could swim that fast!
Papa came to where I was standing and kind of stared at me, when all of a sudden he was JERKED underwater like someone from a Jaws movie! He popped back up, swam away like a crazy person with Mama hot on his butt. She caught him again, drug him to the bottom and held him there. I crossed the pond and I reached in to save him and pulled him out. Mama had a grip on his tail and was basically ATTACHED to him. I had to poke her in the head to get her to let go.
I am not a turtle, I do not think like a turtle, but I would swear that Mama was going to try and drown Papa! Mama is much bigger and probably could hold her breath longer. It sure looked to me like that is what she was doing.
They are now separated, though Papa is not happy. Mama now has a bit of algae on her shell from refusing to bask. I now see how Papa got the sore on his shell, it is from rubbing against Mama's shell as he tries to escape her killer grip.
I believe Mama has become territorial, and wants him away. This would explain both her actions of attacking her mate, and refusing to leave the pond. These are my problems. I am not happy separating them, but if that is what I have to do, then so be it, I will build another pond and enclose them. I would really hate to have to do this, it is heart breaking to me.
Any suggestions??
Thanks,
Seadog
