Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I bought three turtles, all of them red eared sliders. We bought them from a local pet store, two babies and one adult. The owner of the store had us buy a ten gallon tank and we have bought everything else they would need. We feed them everyday sometimes more the once if theyre hungry. Yesterday my large turtle killed one of the baby turtles. Someone please tell me why he did this?? We have another baby turtle in the tank with him, will he be killed too? When I asked the owner of the pet store he told me to get out and that we did something wrong, he even said he would call the police. I dont even understand why he was so defensive when I just want to understand why this happened. Please can someone explain.

your response is appriciated,
trista

I have actually heard a lot of this happening.. and it doesnt just happen between big and little turtles, it can happen between any turtles. But a 10 gallon is NOT very big for 3 turtles. The 'rule of thumb' around here is 10 GALLONS per INCH of turtle. So, even if all of your turtles shells were about an inch long, you would still need a 30 gallon tank!! so it sounds to me like they are probably crammed... and this can lead to territory disputes (because turtles are VERY territorial), and since the bigger one was well... bigger and stronger, he won! i am also not saying that getting a bigger tank will help because sometimes turtles just do NOT get along with each other, and they need to be separated! but i dont see what getting a larger tank could hurt. Also, you should probably have something for the baby turtle to hide in... incase the big turtle does decide to attack again! Odds are they should already have been in a larger tank anyways!

Turtles should grow about an inch per year. And about the feeding thing... i hope you are NOT just feeding the turtles pellets. During the first year of life (usually an inch or a little more) the turtles will eat mostly pellets (but should ONLY be fed enough that would fit into their heads)... but after this first year or so, they should ONLY be fed the pellets once every 2 or 3 days, and greens (such as red leaf lettuce, dandelion greens and even collard greens) can be suplemented daily... you can feed the turtles as many greens as they will eat. But the problem with feeding them as much protein that they want is that they will become overweight... which then not only leads to shell deformities but also many health problems and would probably result in an early death.

i hope this helps...
-----
~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

hatchlings should not be kept with adult turtles unless
you have a very large enclosure.

Your 10 gallon is even too small for the baby turtle much
less the adult. I am afraid the petshops strike again!

Sorry you found out this way. Please get on the internet
and do alot of research on keeping turtles properly.

Sorry for the loss of the baby turtle.

Linda

how big are your baby turtles. all turtles under 4 inches are illegal to sale as of the 1970s. this might be why he was defensive. if i were you i would turn the guy in for selling them. its not illegal to buy them, just to sell. i have turned pet stores in for that already.
nathan

I agree about the protien and shell deformities. I actually have one RES that came to me with severe shell deformities and was literally "busting out" of her shell because she was fed nothing but beef and chicken!

Please take everyone's advice and get them a bigger tank. Also, NEVER look to pet stores for advice. They are the worst people to ask and thier knowledge is of selling a "product" whether it be an animal or supplies. If they sold you three and told you that 2 were babies and one an adult, I can tell you for sure that all of them were babies and the 2 smallest were probably illigal to sell. RES actually DO NOT stay as small as their tank and adults can get up to 12 INCHES!!!! I have seen adults this big and it is no rarity. Please utilize this forum as much as possilbe to learn bebeficial advice for your new reptiles. Also I am avaliable to help at any time at reptile_impressions@yahoo.com or on my site at http://reptileimpressions.bravehost.com.

Good luck and please seriously take into consideration the advice people are giving you. They say it out of concern for your animals, not to make you feel like you are stupid.

Ellena

Yes don't think that anyone is talking down to you, because how were you to know. If any posts sound harsh it's because the person who wrote the post was mad at the pet store and they were venting. Please call whoever will listen to you about this pet store. Call the cops, call animal control call your local wildlife refuge, call everyone until someone takes some action against this store. You can even go down to the store until the owner calls the cops and tell the cops when they get there what the pet store sold you. Show them the turtles (if he has any left) that are under sized and tell them that he sold you three of them. He can get in big trouble for it and that's why he was getting angry with you. It's not your fault and I am sorry for the loss of your turtle. Please get them a bigger tank as soon as you can. If you can't afford it right now, go to walmart and get two 50 gal tubs (they are usually plastic and blue) and put one in each until you can get a bigger tank. Remember they need a basking area so they can get out of the water once in a while. Give them lots of hiding spots too because they will be shy at first. It will also give the baby something to hold onto if he gets tired of swimming. This way he won't drown. Some babies have drowned before. Check this other site out as well for more information. http://www.turtletimes.com/Forums/default.asp
I hope you get all the help you need between the two sites. Good luck.

Heh...that 10 gallon/inch rule reminded me of something amusing last weekend at a reptile expo.

This guy was selling baby turtles (as well as handing out forms for people to sign agreeing these turtles are for "scientific and educational purposes only"...go fig) and a guy who had no knowledge of turtles asked how big should they keep them in. The seller was like "ah..u can keep them in these small 5 gallon tubs, and then move them up to bigger tanks later" (without really specifying how large they'll get). My conscience (and maybe wiseassness) got the best of me so I blurted out the "10 gallon/inch rule" and how if he was buying the red-ears, he'd need to settle for hundred gallon tanks or ponds later in life. The buyer looked bewildered and left while the seller just stayed quiet and went to talk to other customers. I think the only reason he didn't argue with me about the rule was cuz I already purchased 2 diamond-back terrapins from him...heheh.

Eh, buyer beware. Even the most knowledgeable turtle hobbyists might screw with you if it means $$$.