General Care Discussion :: Will my older res hurt the baby res?

[dave09]

Ive had my res for a year now and she's probably around 4-6 years old and she has always been alone in her tank.
Now.. ive always wanted to get a baby res but I'm afraid the older one will hurt the baby because it's not hers. Maybe cus of jellousy or something.
Have anyone tried this?

Thanks

[Kallistos]

The baby RES will probably be bullied around. Sometimes it depends on the turtle, some may be territorial, some may not. I'd reccomend a turtle that's same in size instead.

[dave09]

Can't.
Mom wont let me get another big one. But she's ok with a small one.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

then dont get one at all,besides having two RES is alot of money and work..dont risk it,please..the little one can seriously get injured and stressed out.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

and another thing even if you do get a baby one,that baby is going to grow...and didnt you say your mom doesnt want another big one.
if i could go back in time i would only gotten one turtle instead of two,its alot of work and money for two.by the time they both reach full size you'll need a tank over 120 gallons,probably 200 gallons depending how much they grow.

[dave09]

Why would the little one get stressed. It's just like his/her mom :l

But okay, maybe I wont do it then :/

[dave09]

and another thing even if you do get a baby one,that baby is going to grow...and didnt you say your mom doesnt want another big one.
if i could go back in time i would only gotten one turtle instead of two,its alot of work and money for two.by the time they both reach full size you'll need a tank over 120 gallons,probably 200 gallons depending how much they grow.

It takes years to grow, and by that time I wont be living at my parents' house (hopefully)

[xsavingsaturdayx]

actually RES are solitairy animals,they dont have "moms" or "dads" they are better off alone,please please dont do it.he will get stressed out because chances are the bigger one is going to push and shove the little one and take bites at him and wont leave him alone,the bigger one can litterally squish the baby while basking or even drown him...

[xsavingsaturdayx]

if your turtle grew 6inches in a year...thats not a long time now is it..by next year you;ll have to look into tanks that are over 120 gallons and expensive equipment to make the habitat suitable.


"oh damn, im sorry i read your first post and i thought you said that he grew 4 to six inches in a year,then i realized shes 4 or six years old"

[dave09]

I'm buying a 580 litre (dont know how many gallons) tank for my res, it comes with a big filter. I could have 3-4 full grown turtles in it, and I will do it when I move out.

But ok, maybe ill just let my current turtle live in that giant tank until i move out (3 years)

[xsavingsaturdayx]

yeah,that sounds like a good idea dave09. seriously one RES is enough responsibility imagine two! i too plan,once i move out and get a good job too get alot of turtles.but im only 16 and cant afford much,i sometimes stay without a pay check just because my turtles need something.
but they are worth it, i love my little guys.

[dave09]

Yeah, we have basicly the same plan

[xsavingsaturdayx]

haha,hell yeah!

[megcornell]

Also, when you do get a new res in a few years, you'll have to have a second set up because new turtles have to be quarantined in case they have a disease so it won't be transmitted to the turtle you have now.

[Crazymansun]

Do monitor them A LOT if you're going to leave the two in the same tank.

I've recently did the same thing, and it didn't turn out good. My big RES bit the small one.

It was horrible, the big one bit on both the small one's legs. Now the small one only has 2 toes on each leg... It was TOTALLY not a good idea. When I found out, I got so depressed and blamed myself for doing such a foolish thing. I recommend NOT to have baby RES and an adult RES in the same tank because you don't know when the adult one will hurt the baby. It took the big RES 2 days to start attacking the small RES.

For now, the small RES is doing fine, the only bad part is that my small RES is handicap. She can walk at a nice slow pace, but I don't think she can be as natural as she use to be. Now that her hind legs are deformed, I don't think she'll be able to swim as good. In the future I hope she will be able to adapt to this change, and hopefully be stronger than ever.

I hope to those who wants to try this out or for the ones who are doing this already to consider this as a warning. I don't want this to happen again, and I certainly don't want RES owners worry.

Thank you~