General Care Discussion :: question about putting 2 turtles together

[hhisc383]

right now, i have 2 res in a tank, and a map in another tank. the larger res has been bothering the other one (biting feet), so i was thinking about putting the smaller res with the map turtle. the map is a little smaller than the res...i put them together for 5 min or so today to see what would happen. they started "smelling" each other and then the res snapped at him! i didn't expect it. is that normal? i'd like to put them together, but i dont want anything to happen to either of them. what can i expect? what is the normal behavior?

[jenaero]

I'd say that's pretty much normal for turts. You do want to separate the 2 res tho. Did you wait for a bit after he snapped at the map? If so, did it happen again? If not, I'd say keep him in with the map and just keep an eye on them. They could have just been investigating. I'd just leave him and the map together until they gave a reason not to. Worst case scenario, you'll end up with 3 tanks with 3 happy turtles.

[hhisc383]

haha this is true. i took the res out as soon has he snapped at my map turtle...i just didn't like it. i'll try again when i have time to watch them. how long do you think is sufficient? i don't want to leave and have something happen...like them fighting or something.

[jenaero]

So is he back in with the other res now? I doubt, at that size, they'd be able to do any real damage to eachother anyway (res&map). Try again for a couple hours when you have time to watch them and I'd bet they'd investigate eachother and then just go about their business.

[marisa]

Sometimes it's good to give a turtle who's "misbehaving" a little time out by keeping him separated for a bit.

[hhisc383]

Sometimes it's good to give a turtle who's "misbehaving" a little time out by keeping him separated for a bit.

yea i was thinking about that. its just once in a while, i see him nip at the little res's feet when he's hanging in the water. maybe he mistakes it for food? i don't know if its intentional...they seem to get along just fine any other time...they bask together, swim together, etc. i just didn't want to come home one day and see a toe, tail, or something worse missing!

[marisa]

You'll have to be alert and if the nipping continues/gets worse think about more permanent arrangements that might not keep them together. What exactly are the sizes of these three turtles (shell lengths, not curve) and how big are the two tanks?

[hhisc383]

ok...i put the two turtles together...they started by sniffing eachother, then went about their business. about 10 minutes after that, one started nipping at the other's feet and shell. is that normal for introductions? do you think it would continue if i kept them together?

[marisa]

Would you kindly answer the question I asked you in my last post that's above yours?

[hhisc383]

well you can see a pic of them here: http://hhisc383.onlinestoragesolution.com/DSCN0169.JPG


The tank that i tried putting them into together is a 30 gallon tank.