Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My kids are each about 2.5" long and they are in a nice little 13 gallon tank (odd size from Germany.) Plenty of room to spare right now. What size should they be when I move them into a 55 or if money permits, an 85?

Also. They have no probs living with each other....Do you think they will later on in life?

Can't tell from the picture.
Are these alligator snappers?
If they are, they'll be fine together as they get older. As long as they aren't crowded and not too huge.
Alligator snappers get along very well. The only problem is when there are really big differences in size after they get very large.
My small guys always get a long fine. Sometimes when they both might happen to grab a fish at the same time; there can be problems. They try to push off the other turtle with their front feet. They can screatch each other.

They won't have trouble with each other until puberty in a few years. Then 2 males will fight. A female will be sexually harassed and will have to be separated except while mating.

As for space: there are a bunch of popular misconceptions about space. Those misconceptions are based upon the setups used by breeders to keep their stock. Those space notions will allow your animal to live for a few months or a couple of years, though not with pleasure. It's sort of like a criminal living in a cell. You can survive it, but are you happy?

If you think abut it, a turtle out in the wild has an entire pond (whatever the size) to live in and wander around---much more space than the average person can devote to an aquarium.

So give your turtle as much space, plants, structure, and interesting places im which to play as you can afford.

You can never give the animal too much space. (You may give it so much that it will hide and you won't see it anymore---but your animal won't mind; YOU will. What fun is an animal that you can't see!)

So find a happy medium.

Actually one is a Common, and on I believe is a Florida... or so I was told... They are also too young to tell the difference it seems. I've seen a few baby Floridas and Commons, and can barely tell the diff.
They do great together right now, and at 2" or so, the tank is huge to them. I think I might move them in at 4" or more.... they never fight and even when one is eating food, the other tries to get some and they do occasionally nip when I give them treats like shrimp.
Also, if anyone has ideas on arranging the tank, because they don't bask too much outside the water, so making a basking site doesnt make sense. I think just a shallow area near the basking bulb is good... which they use all the time.