General Care Discussion :: Placing Two Turtles in the Same Aquarium

[Susan E]

I have two male Red Eared Sliders that are 11-12 years old. They were in the same tank for the first 8-9 years before I separated them because of size constraints.

Maintaining two tanks has been a lot of work. Therefore, I've been thinking about purchasing a larger setup so I can put them together again and have only one tank to maintain.

My turtles have never fought that I've ever seen or noticed. I'm still concered there may be an issue. What do you think? Will I just have to put them together and see what happens?

Thanks for your input!

[freshprince2146]

I would say give it a try, but if you see any signs of agression separate them.

Do you know if they are male/female??

Because if you have a male and a female you can expect them to mate/breed and what not.

[mike hill]

Sue-E Remember the 10gallon per inch rule so to give them a lot of room. You never know about turtles! Sometimes they just get along and sometimes they start fighting. A lot of room will help! Good Luck!

[duck215]

Sue, I have two RES and one Souther Painted turtle in the same tank. It is currently a 150 gal. However before I got this tank I had Rose (RES-14 years old) and Lilly (SPT-13 years old) in the same tank for about 12 years. When I added Max (RES- 6 years old) to the old tank they were very aggressive.
When i put them all into the new environment they were fine. Keep in mind that turtles like any other pet are very territorial. You should be fine as long as you put them into the new living space at the same time. But just watch them to be safe.

Hope this helps!
Adam