Kingsnake.com - Herpforum - New addition: quarantine + behavior

Posted by: kasie at Tue Jul 11 09:46:49 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by kasie ]

I have had a single male 3-Toed Box Turtle for about 15 years. We estimate that he's about 30 years old at this time, but don't know for sure. He was a very sick; chewed-up quite severely by a dog, was kept in a filthy water tank, fungal/bacteria infections galore - basically, a half dead little guy when someone dropped him off at my local pet store. Since they knew I did wildlife rescue (but mostly mammalian and avian) and already had a Reeves turtle, they asked if I wanted to take him/try to save him.

He quickly got healthy and strong with my good husbandry, and has been a vibrantly healthy guy ever since. However, I've felt for years that he really would be even happier if he had a companion (of the same species, of course).

So I've been seeking out the "right" companion for him for years and years... Since I have been involved in animal rescue for most of my life, I'm not a fan of buying from pet stores - everyone under my care has come to me as a rescue or inheritance situation - so I was looking aggressively, but also waiting for the "right one" to come along.

After looking in rescue and on Craig's List for the past 5-6 years, I finally found a healthy, outgoing, active female for him and picked her up today. Yippee! I'm very excited.

I currently have them in a 10'x2' (indoor) enclosure that is divided in half with a piece of Plexiglas (so 5'x2' per turtle). They can see each other, but not interact directly yet. After being home just a few hours, she already ate without any hesitation, is super active, inquisitive and seems really spunky.

At first, the both acted like they were very interested in getting to each other - spending a lot of time at the Plexiglas looking at each other and doing some interesting behaviors. However - the situation has changed so that Mishima (my guy) has been non-stop desperately clawing at the Plexiglas divider to try and get through to her for the better part of the afternoon and is still going at it. He seems really obsessed and even a bit crazed. Is this love at first sight or does he want to kill her? Can they be territorial? Can turtles experience what we call "barrier aggression" in canines? Is this going to stress out Mishima too much? Have I made a mistake? She seems much more relaxed about the whole thing than he is, and seems a bit more interested in checking out the new digs.

I plan on keeping them separate for a while in this indoor enclosure (before moving them outside to a larger outdoor enclosure) to ensure her good health and plan on introducing them slowly. She does seem to be quite healthy - only thing I see is she has what looks like perhaps what was old bite marks (from a dog?) in her shell - the are old wounds though and the shell is otherwise is good shape, nice and firm, dry and mostly clean. I did see some black hard crud looking stuff on the back edges of the carapace - I plan on soaking her and cleaning her tomorrow - didn't want to do too much the first day and overwhelm her. But honestly, she seems totally well-adjusted and is one of the most outgoing turtles I have met - she hasn't once hissed or "boxed" herself into her shell. She's pretty strong, too, which is a good sign.

I'm just not sure how long the quarantine should be - so if people can give me an idea of what is customary when adding a new animal to an existing enclosure, that would be great. And if those with more turtle experience than me can also help me in explain what Mishima's crazed behavior might be and how to most safely introduce them, that would be great too.

I also have a wonderful geriatric female Reeves turtle, at least 30 years old, we know for sure (I'm her 4th person - and I knew the people who had her before) - in her own outdoor 300 gallon pond. I have had Martha for about the same period, a little longer, than Mishima. I formerly had a really fun male Asian Soft-shelled Turtle (Amyda cartilaginea) for about 12 years before he died - seemed like he just got old. So only three turtles total so far, over many years, although I do read a lot/have lots of books on their care, and try to be the best "turtle" mom I can be. But I can't find any good guidelines on introducing new animals to one another, what behaviors I can expect in introducing a younger (I think she's about 11 years old by reading my this - http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/herpetol/boxturtles/ on counting the number of scutes on her plastron) female to an older male, and quarantine periods in my books.

TIA - all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Kasie