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Hi,

I have two RES, one is 6 inches the other 4.5 inches and they seem to fight a lot. I have them in a 55 gallon tank and I am trying to upgrade but my apartment cant accommodate that yet. Anyway, the smaller one (Ralph) follows around the big one (Potsie) all the time and I think it gets on his nerves. So Potsie uses his nails to shoe him away and then Ralph gets mad and tries to bite him. And recently he was successful and put a nice little scratch on Potsie's head.

What can I do?

Thanks!

Separate them, or find someone too take one. It is very common for turtles too fight especially RES which are probably the most aggressive turtle you can get and they have no problem killing something if they dont like it even another turtle.

Agreed with Vtolds.

I used to have 2 turtles around the same size as yours, also in a 55 gallon tank (long ago, my Sheba had a friend) and all they did was fight fight FIGHT. It was loud, and there were times when the smaller male was missing a nail because she would bite off his nails when he would flutter in her face. One time she bit him on the tail & it was sprained! Other times, he bit Sheba on the face or constantly followed her around, as you described with your turts. It really got on Sheba's nerves & I can't blame her for fighting back.

Finally I gave the smaller male away to a friend who wanted a pet & life has been good ever since.

Go out and get a big rubbermaid container and separate them. If you can't accommodate two tanks, give one away. There is always a friend or family member or adoption place that will take them. Otherwise, it's likely that one of these days, you'll come home and have a dead turtle.

Thanks everyone.

They will not stop fighting. You need to seperate them.

Yeah, I've decided to acquire another tank and separate them that way. I cant bare to give one away so I'd rather deal with the problem of maintaining two tanks. I'm just going to put the second tank below the first one in the opening of the stand. Seems like a good fit.

Thanks all

I'm so glad you've decided to separate them before the fighting escalates to serious injury.
Since a second tank is probably an unexpected expense maybe you should consider a rubbermaid bin for a temporary home for one turtle. Since spring is coming, soon garage sales will be springing up and you can probably find a used aquarium at a fraction of the full price... just a thought.

don't know where you're located, but glasscages.com makes every size tank you could want and can do custom sizes.....very, very reasonable....i paid 370 for my 135 gallon tank and 100 of that was custom intstall....i live within driving distance though so shipping can be expensive.....but they do shows too and will meet you at them for delivery....

you have to observe them,feed them first if they still fight,separate them

i owned 3 different types turtles,and observe them,they never fight

Before you try to put one tank underneath the other, make sure there's room under there for the lamps, I was going to stack a couple of my 30 gallon tanks and the space under the stand wasn't high enough to fit the lamps. Also do a search for tank dividers, there are several people on here that have constructed partitions to separate their turtles in a single tank.

Mine have been with each other there whole life. They get along great.