Other Turtle Discussion :: Turtle Seperation

[sarah]

My turtles have always been "aggressive" as in fluttering their paws but we would watch them forever and they never actually tried to hurt each other. They loved to bask together, and they slept with one hooked to the others back.
Today we were watching them and Squirt tried to bite Bobbi, he missed his eye by a very very little amount. Lucky I had my frogs in a whole little set-up so I gave my frogs to a friend and but Squirt in the smaller tank.
I'm soooo sad But I fell in love with both of them so I am keeping both. lol

Oh well....anyway, just thought I'd share that.

[steve]

Was the bite during feeding, or was Squirt being annoyed by Bobbi? You can always divide a large tank if there is constant aggression.

[missibsu]

Best to separate them. I'm glad Squirt missed, otherwise you might have had even more to deal with. So far I haven't noticed aggression with mine, but I have noticed that they don't seem to see each other. It's like one will swim right into the other one and not even care. At least the other one seems not to care either.

[sarah]

There were carrots on the bottom of the tank that they may have been fighting over.
Neither of my turtles are acting normal either. Bobbi has only left the basking area once, and that's because I feed her. Squirt is swimming around but she hasn't been ON the dock ... Should I put them back together and just keep an eye on it or will they get use to it?
I've only seen them try to bite once before and it was over chicken, so I never feed them together...except the veggies and lettuce and cuttle bone & stuff that is always in there...

[DanielRES1180]

Could it be possible that turtles can get depressed because of separation? My turts get sorta depressed when I separate them to feed, so I am forced to feed in the tank.

[sarah]

that's what I thought too... that's why I'm asking if I should put them back together.

[DanielRES1180]

Try your luck. If they strike or fight each other than you'll have to separate them for good. Could be risky though....

[sarah]

Okay...so after I wrote this I went in to give my turtles lettuce and Squirt was on her basking dock...and Bobbi was off hers. haha
So I'm going to leave them seperated for the time being and see how it works.
Unless ya'll think that's a bad idea?
I don't know what to do

[steve]

How big is their tank? The separation is up to you... it could have been a random thing or it could lead up to something.

[marisa]

If they weren't in a 60+ gallon tank, I'd keep them separated until you can get a large tank and still be prepared to separate them anyway if it doesn't work out. They'll each need their own equipment for the tanks they're in, though.

I doubt a turtle gets depressed from being separated. They may miss something that's familiar (the other turtle) for a while, but can easily cope. I just separated an eastern painted that seemed to be having health issues, and the turtle has come to life by being in his own tank.

[nixa]

I juz bought 2 RES 3 weeks ago... one of them bites the other too on the tail or climbs all over it especially at night. So im having the same problem too.... not sure if i have to seperate them or its just normal behaviour. They are only about 2 inches.

[DanielRES1180]

How big are your turtles? Babies love to stack on one another, don't know if they'll do it at night. I'd be worried about the biting though, what would it turn to when they're older....

[marisa]

How big is the tank they're in? If they're each 2 inches (this is shell length of each not including the curve?), ideally they should be in a 40-gallon tank now. A space that's too small will increase chances for bullying/agression...

I'd be cautious given the tail biting---turtles have been known to lose their tails in this manner.

[DanielRES1180]

Oops , never saw that. Just skimmed through the post too fast. Are baby turts capable of tearing each other apart like that?

[nixa]

ok so they are not tt big... only 1.5 inches approximately(not including the curves and head) ... babies only i think. They do enjoy stacking on top of each other but its usually at night when one get overly excited after i change their water and will sneak up on the other from the back and attempts to bite the tail. i keep them in a 6.5 inch(length) by 5.5 inch(width) by 6 inch (height) glass tank. Is this big enough?