General Care Discussion :: Just got new turtles and just wanna check

[Akil]

My parents recently went turtle crazy and got 4 turtles from Craigslist (I believe?) anyway all 4 of them are different sizes but none of them are that big. My friend sent me here after I showed her some pics and it looks like at least 3 out of 4 are 'pyramiding'. At least that's what we think?

http://img14.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pyramiding.jpg
http://img14.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pyramiding2.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pyramiding3.jpg
That's the same turtle but they are all like that but 1.

Another problem is really like spiked sides? I dunno if that's normal though.

http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spike.jpg
http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spike2.jpg

We have had a turtle for almost 10 years that I found camping as a child (I know that's not very good to do but I was little and wanted to keep him =( ) and its got a really smooth shell top and sides not spikes or boxing up top, all the turtles have red on the ear sides so figured they all must be red ear sliders =P. I have also been reading it might not be good to keep turtles together? I never knew that only had 1 all this time and they gave us a nice tank for the 4 of them (just for now not for when they are full grown) should we separate them or will they be fine since they grew up together? Well 2 of them are going to my older brother anyways, but don't wanna do that if its bad to have them together.

Anyways sorry this is so long I haven't slept in 2 days so kinda out of it lol, thanks for everyone who reads this and hope some people can help me out in seeing if they are okay. =P I can take more pics if needed.

[TheComputerGremlin]

So, yes, there is a bit of pyramiding, but as long as you get them on a proper diet, it should progress any further. After a few sheds, it may start to look better, but it's possible that it will never go away fully.

The spiky sides are normal and not too jagged, which is good. Often with excessive protein feeding and thus pyramiding, the sides can get very dangerously jagged, but they don't look too bad to me.

You can keep them together, but you should always watch for signs of aggression. The key thing is to always have more resources than is needed, and that can prevent some aggression. You want to have 10 gallons per inch which is additive, so if you have 4 turtles and they are let's say 3" a piece, you would have 12" total, and need 120 gallons. Four full grown females could need as many as 480 gallons! By that point, you just need a pond ... Also any male/female pairs will create the potential for mating, eggs, and babies, so you'll need to be prepared for frequently gravid females.

Oh, and don't put them in with your existing turtle! After a 90 day quarantine period, you can try to integrate them, but it will be best done if you put all of the turtles into a new tank together, rather than putting "intruders" into your existing turtle's tank.

Hope this helps! Post more questions if needed!

[Akil]

Thanks for the info! And yea I didn't plan to put them with the other one we have since hes actually I believe full grown pretty big compared to them. lol yea we planned to keep them in the pond during the summer but we still have some cold winters in Michigan so need a decent tank also. Only gonna keep 2 of the 4 and suppose to give 2 for my older brother who just got a new place. Thanks so much I didn't know if they were just a different shell type or what they are just babies so wanted to make sure, thanks so much!