General Care Discussion :: Are They Fighting??

[shleebaby]

I have 2 RES turtles. Lately they have been, looks like they are fighting. They will both look at each other and shake their front legs at each other. And just keep doing it!! And then chase each other..I don't know what to do or what this is...

[emma]

Thats aggression. Its like the mating dance. You should seperate them as soon as you can.

[shleebaby]

Will they always do this?? They've been in the same tank for almost 2 months and just started doing it...

[Cramer]

Well, I don't think you have to seperate them yet, unless you see actual biting. My two females do that once in a while (like today) and they never actually fight. I think they just like to confirm their dominance every so often..

[Mickey]

When turtles fight, do they actually go after one another like cats and dogs or do they just continue to bully each other off and on? I have 2 little ones and have seen them flutter once. Most of the time, they seem like buddies.

[mikee]

SheBaby -- When they are fighting they use their mouth and bite each other. If they get into an all out brawl you will know it. There will be tails, toes missing and some blood. As long as they are dancing and fluttering they are ok. Keep up the good husbantry and they will do well.

[megcornell]

I don't think it's necessary to wait for injuries to decide it's time to separate your turtles.
How big are the turtles and how big is the set up?

[shleebaby]

I don't think it's necessary to wait for injuries to decide it's time to separate your turtles.
How big are the turtles and how big is the set up?

Squirt is 1.5" and Mojo is 2". They are in a 10 gallon tank right now.
They never used to do that until lately. They don't bite each other, but they do chase each other. They basically just do that flutter thing! It looks really weird!!

[mikee]

Meg- Mod -- How do you know in advance if they are going to fight? Mine nip at each other from time to time, but I have no idea what they might do.

[mikee]

She-baby - Your tank may be too small. The more room they have the more likely they are to get along. There is not much room to hide in a 10 gallon tank. The old rule" 10 gallons per inch of turtle" !!

[mikee]

SheBaby -- OR you can buy another tank and set up and separate the two. Now that would be the safest thing to do.

[shleebaby]

Yah I am planning to get a bigger one, this was a gift from my sister and bro-in-law. They were told that a 10 gallon was a good start off. I've only had them for 2 months, and was going to get a bigger tank soon. So maybe if the tank was bigger, they wouldn't start fighting??

[mikee]

She- Baby -- I would keep the 10 gallon for feeding or separating them. It also would make a good feeding tank. I have three 4 inch in a ten gallon while I am cleaning their big tank and they are squeezed in. I am surprised that they are good about it. I will be getting them back in their tank in just a few minutes.

[emma]

My turtles seemed to bite at eachother a couple of times when they were in my 10 gallon. When I upgraded to the 55 gallon they didn't. They had so much room.

[megcornell]

Whether or not turtles fight can't be predicted unfortunately, so the bigger tank may be a great solution or just a temporary one. Either way, at least the bigger tank can serve as a home for one turtle.
As for my previous comment, I always think it's better safe than sorry when aggression is a possibility. I'd much rather separate two turtles after I've seen them sparring than wait until one has a serious bite. Too many times on here you see injuries from other turtles that could have been prevented.