General Care Discussion :: Male Aggression

[CactusJohn5]

So my g/f has 1 male and 2 female res, i caught the male today, attempting to "murder" the LARGER female. Now i say this because he bit her throat and did like a crocodile roll, in my opinion he was trying to hurt her, so i pull him off, took him out, gave him a talk to and dry docked him for about 2 hours. After he calmed off, i put him back in, and right away he sought her out (300 gallon pond), and did the EXACT same thing, so after he let go, which was painful to watch because she was clearly in pain from this, i pulled him out and he has been in solitary for most of the day now. The female was a large visible marks on her throat from this.

The male RES has done this once or twice before and USUALLY after a "time out" he is chill, but recently since the upgrade to the 300 gallon he is been nothing but a pain.

I read that it is possible that she rejected him for mating and now he has no use for her, but BOTH female have rejected him, he trys all day with the fluttering and never gets any loving from either of them.

I guess my question is this. How can i tell if this is permanent aggression, or just heat of passion aggression? Is there really a difference, and is re-homing him(he can go in the old 55g), the only option i have at this point?

[steve]

This is similar to my situation a few years ago. At some point the aggression becomes permanent with the turtles involved. I am not certain this behavior will reoccur immediately with a new turtle and the aggressor but I would not risk it. He even tries to bite her while on dry land... so permanent separation is the only solution.

[CactusJohn5]

So this is the females neck, i believe the marks are BITE wounds from the male, which has been removed from the situation.
Anyone confirm this? or could it be some kind of skin issue?

[steve]

Might be both. Once or twice my female RES would be get a similar scab, but only one or two small ones. Does she also have one on her arm? Is her neck very red or is that just some distortion from the camera?

[CactusJohn5]

she has them just about everywhere soft skin is, the male has been seen biting her in all the places she has the "scars" In the softs of her back legs she is REALLY scared up, if these are scars. as for the red skin, she is "pink" it comes and goes based on how much and how often she is basking the more she basks the more PINK her skin is.

[steve]

Was the other female bitten as well?

[CactusJohn5]

the "other" female was always assumed to be a MALE until she laded eggs 2 years ago, lol she has LONGER nails and a bigger tail than her "sister" The male could care less about her, i think maybe once of twice i have seen him try to "flutter" her but not to the extent he does with the other one.

[steve]

I would dry dock her and give her some some basic treatment. If it doesn't get better in a day or two, I would consult a vet. Those pinkish areas are what I would pay attention to.

[blackforces get you]

scratch marks? i dont think bites look like that. but who knows. id dry dock too

[steve]

The main thing is to separate, then dry dock. If there is improvement then you know you're on the right path.

[CactusJohn5]

what is the "proper" dry docking technique?

[steve]

Large, warm and quiet area. You'd want to line a box with something like newspaper because of any pooping/peeing. At night leave a clean towel or shirt in there so she can burrow under it.

[CactusJohn5]

We have our old 40 gallon breeder set up as a "nesting" box, its about 1/2 full of premium top soil, and a drop light, would that work?

[steve]

I would use a large box or container. This area should be clean too.