General Care Discussion :: Jealousy or just being a big brother?

[natealie]

Okay...so I just got two new turtles on Sunday from a co-worker of mine. I already have a RES named Chase that's about 4.5 to 5.5 inches long (i haven't measured him)...either way, he's a big boy...
anyway... the two other turtles i got, one's able to fit in the palm of your hand and the other's only an inch or so bigger...basically, they're tiny and the two of them together are not even the length of chase.
Well, chase eats the occasional feeder fish. generally i can put 24 feeders in his tank and within 3-4 weeks they'll still be 2 left...because he eats pellets, anacharis, gamarra...you name it, it's a varied and healthy diet-

but here's the weird thing:
i cleaned his water tonight b/c i noticed he KILLED all the fish that were swimming in his water- probably a good 7 or 8 of them- but did not eat these fish. he decapitated all of them and left the head at the bottom of the tank and the body floating around. yummy right?
he can see the two other turtles from his tank- both tanks are on the floor, about three feet away from each other... and since the two new ones arrived, like i said, he did the fish decapitation thing and he's not eatting NEARLY as many pellets as he used to eat. could he be jealous of the other two?
i cover their tanks at night (b/c i like it cool to sleep- so i don't want the AC to cool them off)...so do you think i should keep the side covered where he can see the other turtles so that way he can no longer see them?
do you think he's jealous of them?
or do you think he's trying to say "mommy...pay more attention to me!!!"
because like i said, he's never done this before...and he's been following me more than he used to...
i wuv my baby...can anyone help me out?

[natealie]

Oh yeah...when i put rosy reds in the tank with the two little ones, the bigger one killed half of them before eatting them at all...is this similar?

[missibsu]

What is the water temp in your tank, and how close are they to the a/c? Is it possible the a/c is affecting your water temp and causing your turtle to not want to eat?

[natealie]

What is the water temp in your tank, and how close are they to the a/c? Is it possible the a/c is affecting your water temp and causing your turtle to not want to eat?

no no no...he's still eatting...just not as much..
he could eat about 130 or more pellets every two days....but in the past two days, other than eatting his anacharis, he's probably only had 60 or so.... the water temperature in his tank stays about 80 degrees constantly...
for right now, i put the blanket over the one side where he can still see the babies...i'm HOPING that will affect things...also, last night i did a complete water change and cleaned his filter and dock...so hopefully he'll act "normal" today
any other ideas?

[cam722]

no no no...he's still eatting...just not as much..
he could eat about 130 or more pellets every two days....but in the past two days, other than eatting his anacharis, he's probably only had 60 or so....

What kind of pellets are you feeding him? If you are feeding him 60-130 pellets in a few days you are way over feeding him. You should only feed him as much as could fit in his head (if hollowed out) not including the neck. I have 2 4+ inch turtles that get 10 pellets every other day. At the size your turtle is, it should only be feed every other day. How long have you had your turtle? Also, do you feed it any veggies at all... older turtles are more herbivores than carnivores.. also, that is a LOT of protein in the fish you may want to cut back and give him fish only as an occasional treat. Too much protein, in the food and fish, can cause serious health problems, excessive growth and problems with the shell.

As for killing all the fish and not eating them... maybe he's bored and not really hungry? I've had a rosy minnow in my take for nearly a year now and the turtles haven't gone near it. It's just a tank mate now. What is your setup like?

[natealie]

okay, i think i'm going to leave this forum because apparently you people think i don't even know how to take care of my damn animals. i took him to the vet and she said he was probably the healthiest turtle she's ever seen and that other than the fact that he doesn't like people, he's doing excellent.
you guys are trying to make it seem like the way i take care of him is improper and it definitely is not. so goodbye

[TNTurtles]

When you come here asking for advice you shouldn't yell at people when they give it to you. It is your choice to listen to it.

[Jessica313]

i agree, people on this forum are only trying to help!!

[rtswim400@yahoo.com]

if someone asks you a question about your setup or what you are doing, its only to give them some insight into what is going on. no one is attacking you or trying to tell you arnt treating your turtles correctly. this place is made for discussing turtles, and without asking questions it would be silly. also i agree with TNTurles, you have the choice to listen to people and im sure not everyone here does exatly what others tell them to do. this is good place to learn new things, no one knows everything, and a good place to find advice on different aspects of how to care for turtles.

[cam722]

natealie:

I'd really like to know how you come to the conclusion that we are saying you don't know how to take care of your animals. The feeding schedule I told you is pretty much standard fare on any turtle site you check out. I asked what kind of pellets you were feeding because I feed more of different kinds due to the size differences.

As TNTurtles said, if we don't ask questions we can't offer help. Unless you have another way of our finding out the information.. I mean I don't believe anyone on this forum is a mind reader or has the ability to peer through the monitor to get the answers.

Either way, good luck with your turtles.

[steve]

Taking care of turtles is not a straight forward process. Turtle personalities aside, we can only ask questions to get a better understanding of your situation. Since there aren't always a simple solution, you should not be offended if suggestions are made regarding how you are caring for your turtle. It does sound like your turtle is getting a large amount of pellets, especially is they are the standard Reptomin-size.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I think the turtle is just FULL! If nothing else has changed (water temp, cleanliness, basking light, general health), the turtle may only eat part of the fish & "waste" the rest. They don't necessarily have a concept of "I just ate part of THIS fish and now I have to eat the rest of the same fish." They just eat what is in front of them.

I would cut down on the amount of food you are giving him. Turtles can get overweight, and while it isn't necessarily harmful, it can affect how well he swims & walks. Turtles in captivity don't get all the exercise that a turtle in the wild does & it's easy for them to get fat.

[industrial_girl_2000]

okay, i think i'm going to leave this forum because apparently you people think i don't even know how to take care of my damn animals. i took him to the vet and she said he was probably the healthiest turtle she's ever seen and that other than the fact that he doesn't like people, he's doing excellent.
you guys are trying to make it seem like the way i take care of him is improper and it definitely is not. so goodbye

Yikes!

The last time I took a turtle to the vet (17 yrs ago) & they said it was the healthiest turtle they had ever seen, the turtle died of pneumonia a month after that. Good luck to you.