Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:10 pm two male RES being territorial?
I have two male (It appears) red eared sliders that are about 7 Inches. They were purchased about a year ago and have apparently been together since they were babies. They were also, so we were told by the former owner, caught in the wild, and are now about 16 years old. Both are healthy and for the most part get along quite well. They are quite playful with each other and sometimes push one another off their basking areas. There is no pyramiding, and they both have the same size tail, claws ect... so contrary to what the previous owner told us, I beleive them to both be male. They do, however, perform the mating dance. I was told this was quite normal. After one of the times they performed this fluttering, one bit the other in the neck. Not hard enough to do any damage, but I did separate them immediatley. Are they just being territorial. They are in a huge tank, about 90 gallons. The water is room temp and the basking areas are easily accessable and warmer. Use of both direct sunlight, and lights. The tank is about half filled with water and about a third of the space is basking areas. Plenty of places to hide too in case one gets sick of the other. This is a significant improvement from the small 20 gallon, waterless tank they had been kept in by the previous owner. They have not displayed this behaviour since, but I need to know if they are just being territorial, or are they being aggressive? Should they be seperated permanantly, or are they OK to reside in the same tank again? Is there anything I can do to ensure it doesn't occur again? I love my animals, turtles included of course, and want to do what is best for them.
