General Care Discussion :: Adding a new turtle

[michstarr]

I have a 3 year old female RES that has lived by herself since we got her when she was less than 2 inches. She is now almost 5 inches long.
We just got another female who is about 3 inches long, as someone had to get rid of her.
We put them together in a new tank tonight, and a couple times I saw my old turtle bite or attempt to bite the new one (as she does when live food is given to her).
Will the old one hurt the new one, or is this normal at first? They were together for an hour, and I've now separated them for the night.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Yes, the old turtle will injure the new turtle. They must be separated ASAP and will not be able to live together. This is most often the case, probably 80% or more of the time turtles live their lives alone.

Don't try again, you will end up with an injured turtle!

[michstarr]

In my haste and stress I didn't read the posts entitled "turtle aggression" - just looking for "new turtle" - I've now read them, and understand.
I guess the pet store guy does not know everything! He said turtles all get along great - his turtles probably all grew up together.

[blackforces get you]

its like if you add 2 males in a boxing ring they're most likely to fight. its just like that. 2 of the same sex can usually cause a lot of fluttering and space and soon later 1 will kill the other. since one thinks its bigger than it will just win so its best you do separate them before 1 of them gets hurt. i keep my 3 inch with my 5 inch female and they both seem to be happy together. if any fluttering occurs, then ill have to seriously separate them because i don't want a dead turtle. telling you now its not pretty