General Care Discussion :: TURTLE HELP?!?!?!?!

[Kevin Allen]

hey yall,
i've been here before but couldnt remember my username and password so i had to re-register lol..

anyway, i have ran into a problem...well, my RES is now like around 8" front to back shell length..so it's grown ALOT since last time i posted here...love this turtle...

ok, i have since got married (May 31 of this year) and my wife has bought me a new baby RED. right now we have them separated.

here's my question, do turtles know other turtles and live together? or if i put the baby in with the big one will the big one eat it? my big turtle got big cause it eats EVERYTHING, pellet food, chicken, hot dogs, any meat, live fish, crawfish, or anything it can get.

so can the little baby RES be put in with the large RES or will it become food for the big one?

thanks, Kevin

[Daniel3507]

its best to keep them seperate. RES are very aggressive. and you would need a BIG tank to keep them together. congratulations on getting married!

[JimmyJam]

As Dan the man said, you can chance it in a bigger tank, but either way... Big poppa will eventually look at the baby as food or a threat especially when feeding them. Get another tank setup for the baby so you don't have to take the chance.

[Kevin Allen]

what about once the baby turtle gets a little bigger? in the wild they have to know they cant eat each other...or else they would become extinct...so has anyone ever put turtles in together that wasnt raised together?

Kevin

[Sk8gal]

In the wild they will barely come in contact because the lakes they live in are so huge. Please keep them separated, and you will have much happier turtles

[zoologist]

hahahah "Dan the Man"


exactly, dont put them together. they need to stay seperate unless you wanna put them in a huge 600 gallon pond or something.

[Daniel3507]

hahahah "Dan the Man"


exactly, dont put them together. they need to stay seperate unless you wanna put them in a huge 600 gallon pond or something.

no need to laugh at me jess. he was just stating a fact haha

[crackerlady2007]

Kevin, My turtles sniff at and bite rocks, shells, and anything I put in there tank. I'm sure at 8", he'd eat the poor thing up in one bite. It sounds pretty risky to me.

[SpotsMama]

i hate to be disturbing, but you ought to take a look at some of the experiences other people have had when they tried to put two turtles together. Not that it happens every time but fightiing almost always happens when one turtle is bigger than the other. In addition, in your case the bigger turtle has established his "territory" and would probably see the little one as an intruder. Sometimes two turtles of the same size live peacefully for years, then suddenly get tired of one another and start with the biting.

Here are some examples of bad experiences when turtles of different sizes were mixed:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ht=#153203

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16789