Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what are the social habits of turtles?

can they be housed same species, same sex, different species???

can different types of map turtles be housed together? same for cooters, sideneckts, softshells, etc...?

i'd love to set up a 40gal breeder with a few different species in there. the ones i have in mind for possiblities are :
black knob map turtle
spiny softshell
albino RES
red bellied cooter
pink bellied sideneck

can any of these coexist, or are they like my uromastyx

thanks
-sean

also, what kind of turtle is that in the picture on the turtle forum?... like the one right next to the "welcome to general turtle forum" message

Your question is a little too general to give a definitive answer, but I can tell you this-with a 40 gallon breeder tank I would just get a few mud or musk turtles and keep them together. Most turtles get to large for such accomodations.

As far as multiple species you would have to consider the temperament of each of the species. (for example - generally speaking sliders, cooters, map turtles, painteds - will tolerate eachother's presence given enough space.) When mixing species you also have to consider only keeping species together that are from the same basic region (i.e. don't not mix Australian species with North American species) and the requirements of the species you house together must be similar (not recommended keeping softshell turtles with sliders or other hardshelled turtles).

The turtle at the top is a diamondback Terrapin.

Again -- your best bet with a tank that size would be small mud and musk species if you want to keep multiple animals. Also provide hidespots in the water as musk turtles can get a little nippy with each other at times.

Steve

well i wasnt looking for all of those species in the same tank, but just trying to figure out which ones would be good with each other. would an albino res be good with that diamondback terapin?

They could live together as long as you give them enough space and be sure to keep the tank nice and clean. Diamondbacks have a little more sensitive skin than sliders do and are a little more prone to fungal problems. But the two should get along well enough.