Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had 2 RES for about 5 years now and want to get another one. Neither one of them is more than 5 inches in length. If I buy a smaller turtle, will my other turtles bite him? Or even worse, try to eat him?

-Janet

most likely but if you get one of those clear seperators and let them get used to the other one on the other side. What size tank do you have?

I just got my turtles a 40 gallon tank. How long should they be seperated for?

-Janet

Okay first of all 40 gallons is not even enough for one turtle to live in for a year they will get cramped and yes they can eat eachother, I had a baby snapper with my 3 RES and they ate him also I keep a softshell in the same tank with them but if the seperator wasnt there they would eat him too. Just dont get another turtle and get a bigger tank you will probably need a 125 gallon or more.

i had 1 turtle and recently got a baby at first my older res was going after it and trying to bit (or eat) the baby. i bought a seperstor and kept the like that for about a month then i took the seperator out and they get along pretty well. try doing that
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Ok,
Turtles don't eat either turtles(with the exception to Alligator Snapping Turtle adults) it might be fine, it might not, you have to make sure that the baby gets a good share of food. Once you put the turtle in with the others, see what they do. If they old ones go up to it and start snapping at it, take it out and don't put it back in. That's all I have to say. It's your call.
Michael Fedzen
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Hey,

I wouldn't exactly say turtles don't eat other turtles, even if they aren't alligator snappers. Turtles are opportunistic feeders and to them, a small turtle is just as good a prey as a snail or crayfish. I speak from personal experience when one day I came home to find a baby red-ear munching on a baby painted I used to have. Not the most pleasant sight (the painted died obviously)I might add, and REPTILES magazine published my inquiry about it. Trachemys are aggressive bullies when it comes to smaller guys and adult box turtles do eat their young if given the chance. But then again, I've seen tiny musk turtles chasing bigger maps, ripping at their tails and swallowing pieces of skin that they bit off...

Scary thought, but hey they're just animals. Just like the previous posts say, I'd suggest watching them closely to see what happens and then making a decision.

Johnny

I've read that Staurotypus (giant musks) are turtle eaters, but they're such close relatives to snappers that it's not suprising. I've always had a grim curiosity to see it, but given his track record with fish, I don't think my specimen would be interested.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

WOW!!!

Oh my god, I'm so glad that I have no desire to have a companion for my turtle!!! It would absolutely devastate me to come home and find that my turtle has been snacking on his "friend". I've been worried that my turtle is lonely and might want to have a friend but I don't think I could cope with cannabalism. I don't care if he eats whatever I put in the tank with him, figure it's food anyway... but turtles eating each other just makes me squeamish.

I guess I'm not a true "Herper" or whatever it's called when you have many different reptiles, etc. as pets.

On a related yet unrelated note, I was once in Petsmart looking at some kind of long-tailed lizards when I noticed that one of the lizards was dead and that some of the others where snacking on it. ::shiver::

Rather than buying another turtle, have you considered adoptions? Or fostering?

If you get a smaller turtle, I would keep it seperate from the others. One thing to think about, your two turtles will out-grow the 40 gallon. Are you willing to get a pond (indoor or outdoor) if you have three permanent turtles?

Katrina