Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Please See Earlier Post:

In my efforts to adopt out the aggressive female, I spoke to two people at the CA Tortoise & Turtle Club. They said that I should bring them the victim---that is, the now wounded turtle who was the target of the biting female. As I mentioned earlier, the biter is not bothering the other two turtles in the pond, both of which are smaller than the victim.

Their reason---there may be something wrong with her, even something I could not notice. Turtles, like a lot of wild animals in groups, will try to kill off the weaker members of the group. There could be many reasons---they literally smell blood (and RES's are carnivorous, as we know) or they perceive them as a threat to the health of the community.

It may explain why the dominant biting female gets along fine with the other two. What do you folks think of that theory?

That's really interesting...I've never thought of it like that. Then again, I never knew FEMALE red eared sliders could be so aggressive and territorial. hmm...but that's definitly a possiblility.

I had one female, abused, that attacked a very powerful and strong female, particularly in a wound she had. This may hold true, but I think it's more of a dominance thing, or territorial dispute. Now if your victim has a wound, I'd separate her ASAP! I wouldn't, however, give a way the aggressive female. Perhaps she has just never been socialized.

Well there are a few holes in this theory. First of all sliders do not have a "community" per se. The only time they "group" in a natural setting is when they bask. Next if the animal were in poor health then why did only one turtle attack it? If the theory goes that the animals will fend off a sick animal then all of them would reject this turtle and try to kill it not just one.

Personally I don't buy that this theory. Nothing is impossible though it seems to be a bit of a stretch.

Steve

Steve, turns out you are essentially correct. I adopted out the victim female to the CTTC. The aggressive female immediately began to go after the next largest female in the pond, and leave the smallest one alone. So, it's obvious that it's a territorial thing where she goes after the one she perceives as a threat.

The difference this time is that the new victim is much more quick and nimble than the old victim, as well as the aggressor, so when the agressor gets snappy, the new victim darts away until things calm down. And they do---unlike with the old victim, the aggressor only ocassionally gets nasty, and much of the time things are peaceful.

My view is that I cannot be a social engineer for a bunch of turtles, and as long as nobody is getting injured and there is no worry about infections, I will leave things alone.

You raise an interesting issue that I would appreciate feedback on---should I just keep one turtle because they are basically solitary creatures? I like the idea of having a few because of the basking (I love seeing them stacked up).

Right now, I have three females in a 200 gallon pond, which I would hope is large enough. Any ideas? Thanks!

Larry