General Care Discussion :: The little one is the dominant one?

[Rubicon]

So I've had my two RES for around 6 months now. When we first got them they were the same size and very small. Now 6 months later its clear that we have a male (long claws and a huge tail) and a female (short claws, tiny tale, and larger). However the female is atleast 1- 1.5" longer and wider than the male. Yet when we feed them rosey reds he pushes her around and he seems to get 8 of the 12 usually.

Is it normal for a smaller male to be the dominant one?

[Raphulk]

I'm not sure about the smaller turtle being the most dominant, but it is true that turtle's don't care what they do to get their food. That includes absolutely destroying another turtle in the process.

I saw you're post about preventing breeding, and in both cases you should separate them. I know it's a lot of money, but it's up to you. It's not ABSOLUTELY necessary, they could live together, but you risk one of them becoming injured or dying.

[Rubicon]

I hear ya. I fed them a dozen roseys again today and they were perfectly fine. I'll keep an eye on them and if anything pickup another 55 gallon.

[Raphulk]

i'd limit the protein to at least once a week, once every other week is even better

overgrowth is a direct response to over feeding your turtles

[SpotsMama]

Males seem to be more aggressive. However, when a male and female are housed together frequently it's the male that winds up getting bitten. When they mature, the male starts wanting to mate with the female all the time and when the female gets tired of it, she lashes out. Since she's bigger, she can do a lot of damage in a hurry.