Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a 5-ish inch male RES, and I just recently rescued a male African mud (P. castaneus) who's around 6.5 inches at the moment. I just bought a 110 gal. tub from tractor supply that I'm going to convert to an indoor pond, and I wanted to know if there's any way I could put the 2 of them together. Both have similar habitat and diet requirements, but while Francois (the mud turtle) is VERY mellow and would probably not be a problem, I'm afraid my RES might be aggressive toward him. I may be able to get ahold of a 75 gal. aquarium sometime soon so I can keep them separated if I have to, but I'd like to put them together if at all possible. Is is worth the risk? Will the slider be aggressive no matter what or only if he feels crowded?
-----
1.0 RES, Spunky
1.0 African mud turtle (P. castaneus), "Francois the Tortois"
1.0.1 Mali Uromastyx, Ajani, Guban(Goober)
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Nico
0.0.1 Northern Blue Tongue Skink, Owajabi(Jabi)
3.1 Cats
1/2.0 rabbit (friend and I went 50/50)
0.1 Gerbils
1.0 Betta, Nigel

African muds can often be very aggressive toward other turtles if kept together. I have seen at a local pet store where an african sideneck (p. subniger) bit a part of tail off a painted turtle that was kept with it. In general its not a good idea to mix different turtles because of the risk of disease spreading from one to another. Often times certain turtles have little or no immune protection from diseases that another types of turtle might have. I would have to say it is not worth the risk .

Well put. Do not mix these species. They are from 2 differrent parts of the world. Also -- I agree with the aggressiveness of the mud turtle. I have seen several of these actually mate so agressively with females that they drown them. While slider males may be a bit agressive. African muds are not exactly little angels either. It is a mix that will spell disaster for you and should be avoided. Perhaps you can some how section off the large trough you bought so each could occupy a portion of it.

Steve

OOPs. Just saw it was only a 110 gal tub. You really wouldn't be able to have to Isolated sections of something that size that would offer much room to the turtles.

Steve

K, thanks... I'd been thinking it would be best not to mix them. But out of curiosity, are all African muds aggressive? I've seen a lot of info about P. subniger being very agressive, but nothing about the other species. Now I just have to figure out which one gets the pond. I'd like to put Francois in the 75 gallon for "display" and the RES in the pond (perhaps someday get him a girlfriend, but who knows), but the mud is going to get bigger so he may appreciate the extra room more... any thoughts?
-----
1.0 RES, Spunky
1.0 African mud turtle (P. castaneus), "Francois the Tortois"
1.0.1 Mali Uromastyx, Ajani, Guban(Goober)
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Nico
0.0.1 Northern Blue Tongue Skink, Owajabi(Jabi)
3.1 Cats
1/2.0 rabbit (friend and I went 50/50)
0.1 Gerbils
1.0 Betta, Nigel