Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it a good idea to keep a baby painted turtle(their so cool lookin')in with a RES?
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Denise (Mom) and/or Jared (son)
Take care!

Some say not to mix these two kinds but from what I heard a few years ago it's ok to mix them. A friend of mine had them both in the same tank and they got along great. Since they are so similar in their needs it's easier to keep them together than other turtles. They eat the same types of foods, they both need lots of water, they both need the same type of basking area and so on. Hopefully someone else will give you better info but I just wanted to share my two cents.

Here's my experience with them:

The red-ears grow faster and are more aggressive even if they are all babies. I had one baby with a couple of red-ears and one day I found the baby's entire hindquarter ripped apart, and a red-ear munching on his remains. Needless to say, the baby didn't survive much longer after that and I was traumatized ever since. In Phillip de Vosjoli's (totally butchered that name, i think)book, he states that painted turtles may develop shell problems if housed with red-ears or other turtles. So my advice would be to separate...get a cheap "rubbermaid" container from the Dollar Store or something. If this isn't possible, then keep a close watch on the painted and make sure it's holding its own against the other turtles in terms of food, basking spot, etc.

johnny

RES are extremely adaptable, so make sure if you do house them with another species that you lean towards the requirements of the other species in regards to temperature, lighting, basking, amount of water, etc. I have kept a painted, map, musk, and 2 RES in the same tank for over a year and they are all best buddies. Ultimately I will seperate them so I don't have to have one gigantic tank.

I have a male Painted Turtle that I've had for 5 years, it's probrobly around 6 or 7 years old, around it's 2nd year with me I bought a male Adult Red-Eared Slider, they both lived together for about 2 years till I gave my Red-Eared Slider away. I don't think it would matter if you had two babies from the different types of turtle species together. But, both of my turtle were over 5 inches long.
Michael Fedzen
Email- Helmz614@aol.com