General Care Discussion :: new turtle in existing turtle tank

[kitkatl3ar]

I currently have two turtles the size of my palm (bout 4 in?). A friend of mine found a turtle on the street (we live in an urban neighborhood...it must have escaped from someone's house?) and tried caring for it, but found it was too much work for him. He kept it in a bucket in the bathroom and alternated having it in water and keeping it dry. He did very little research on caring for turtles. I am considering taking it off his hands but my two turtles are very settled in their tank. They used to flutter at each other and once or twice I've found them trying to bite each other's tails. They do this less often now. I was afraid that this new turtle (which is 5in) would scare the little turtles but it turned out the other way around when I introduced it in my tank. First I was watching the new one get acquainted, but then BOTH my turtles went after it and tried to bite its claws. Is this just because they were not welcome to a new turtle in their tank, or would there be another reason? Would it be possible at all for them to bond; should I risk keeping them together? I'm thinking of getting a separate tank, if anything.

Also, this turtle was vastly undercared for. My friend did not provide any basking light until a couple of weeks ago when I gave him one of my bulbs. When I took the turtle today, its shell was a little grimy, but I wasn't sure if it was residue from the dirty water, or if it is exhibiting signs of a soft shell? I put it under the uv lamp and tried feeding it pellets. Are there any suggestions for giving it more calcium?

-K

[megcornell]

Do not put it with your turtles, it could be sick, or it could fight with your turtles.
If you'd like a temporary set up, invest in a rubbermaid storage bin, they are cheap and sturdy enough for short term use until you can get an aquarium or other alternative lined up.

[industrial_girl_2000]

The turtle that your friend found should be returned to the wild asap. Do NOT put this turtle in the tank with your existing turtles because you never know if he was sick.

FYI - Our local Detroit Zoo quarantines new reptiles for SIX months before adding them to their existing terrarium/aquarium displays. It can take over 4 months for a reptile to show symptoms of illness & that's why they do it. They don't take chances.

[kitkatl3ar]

I live in New York City, so I'm pretty sure this turtle was raised, and not living in the wild. Even if I were to release it in the wild, where would I bring it? It was found on a street with no nature reserve or wildlife habitat in sight. The turtle was in my tank for 5 minutes, tops, before I took it out. Do you think my other turtles should be okay? Other than my turtles trying to bite its claws, they had no other contact. It dirtied up my tank for a little bit, but my filter took care of that.

[FLhaven4strays]

Looks like you need to invest in another set-up. Your 2 guys aren't gonna let that new guy in their tank w/o hurting him AND you just don't know if the newbie is free of illness.

Even if there were no problems w/ the 2 issues above, your tank is prob not large enough to introduce another 5" turtle. If the rough sizes you gave are right you'd need a minimum of 130 gal for the 3...and 4-5" is NOT full grown. Your looking at 300+ gal....and still have the chance of fights.

Pick up a cheap plastic container, filter & lights. Good luck.

[kitkatl3ar]

thanks everyone! i am probably going to get a plastic tank for now. i might get a bigger tank for my two turtles, and then i can put this new one in their old tank.

[SpotsMama]

that sounds like a good plan. It's never a good idea to mix turtles of different sizes. In the end, the little ones wind up getting hurt - though in your case the little ones started out being the aggressors.

I got a 50 gallon rubbermaid tub with a nice lid from Lowe's for $17. It would make a good turtle home.