Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I hope someone can help me with my turtle mystery...

I have had a female painted turtle for 12 years and added a male red-eared slider to her 55 gallon tank a few years ago. They have coexisted with no major problems, but this Spring/Summer she has been very aggressive towards him and bites the front lips of his shell, his knuckles, his neck and most recently his eye, which I think she may have taken out.

Does anyone have any idea why this happened? I currently have a plexiglass divider between them while I figure out what to do, but neither can climb out now to dry their shell so I don't want to leave it that way too long, but I don't want her to kill him.

Is this because 55 gallons is too small a volume? The tank is 7/8 full, and they can climb out on a shelf I glued in. Is a F. painted not compatible with a M. red ear? They've coexisted for several years with no problem.

She seems to do it most when feeding, but she's done it for no apparent reason too. She's been laying egs in the water all spring/summer, which she does every year. Could she be under some kind of stress because she can't bury them? But this happens eery year, and never any biting...

-Pete in NY

I would deffently seperate them. Sometimes turtles just become more agressive towards eachother. If you don't seperate them he could possibly be killed.

Thanks for the reply. I still have them separated, but I couldn't really keep them this way for long, and I don't want to add another tank. There is a pond 10 blocks or so from my house and I see turtles sunning there like bananas every morning. What do you guys think of letting him go there? I've always tried to mirror natural environment, so he's accustomed to digging through muck for worms and stuff. I just don't like keeping animals I can't care for adequately, and I don't think I should keep him in an environment where he's getting hurt. I know people frown on releasing pets, but which is the worse evil here?

If anyone can offer some feedback re: letting him go vs. hoping the other turtle backs off, please reply, I'm all ears...

-Pete

whatever long term separation may be required, do NOT let him or her go into the wild.. if need be, look for a good home for one or the other. LTCs dont often adjust well to release, and many perish.
Mixing species that are not native natrually together will always carry a risk, espcially if they ar not the same size. I had Eastern Paints with a Spotted, with no problems, but that occurs here in NJ. my spottie died, and my brother got a RES from a kid at school. after she got large enough, we put her with the Paints. She was extremely aggressive. she continued to grow (she exceded 12 inches at age 3) and her attitude only worsened. she started attacking our paints and that was it. I took her to the closest turtle pet store for readoption. She is happily living in a large pond as a breeder. we did a little research (the internet was just starting to to become available) and found out that paints and RES dont mix well due to non nativeness. (sorry, cant explain it beyond that)
Good luck

It's illegal to release pets into the wild anywhere in the US. Doing that can wreak havoc on the local wildlife. RES have been released all over the country in places where they don't belong, they take up food meant for native wildlife. Also....
Because this RES is a pet it can possibly carry germs that could kill the local wild turtle population & visa versa.. the wild turtles could be carrying germs that would kill the RES.
Best thing to do if you can't keep them in separate tanks permanently is just adopt out the one you don't want to keep.
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PHRatz

Thank you so much for your advice! I guess I did not consider giving it to a pet store an option, I will give that a try. He's still on the smaller side (but bigger than 6" so he's still kind of "cute." We call him "the baby."

I was very relieved last night to observe what seemed to be his eyeball moving behind his closed lids last night, and today it was open, bright-eyed and summing on some wood I put in there so he could dry his shell. (they take turns being kept in "the good half" of the tank, where they can come out of the water) That was a relief. Still a wound on the lid, but he looks 100% better with it open

BTW, I work for FDA. It might be interesting to some of you to know that the FDA regulates the sale of pet turtles. A rise in the incidence of salmonella in children, usually a food-borne illness, was linked to turtles kept as pets. It was determined that it was from kids putting their hands in their mouths after handling, so they banned the sale of turtles under 6" because it put a big crimp in their popularity as pets. FDA was charged with enforcing the law since we handle food-borne illness issues, but there is no present day enforcement of the law that I am aware of. There was in the beginning, but now there isn't. Turtles are as cute as dickens when newborn, but not as appealing to kiddies when they get bigger. Less pet turtles equaled less salmonella, and so problem "solved," except us enthusiasts are kept from enjoying them at that young age

Here's another tidbit - I was collecting fish samples in Chinatown the other day, and they had LIVE bullfrogs for $3.99/lb and LIVE soft shell turtles for $4.99/lb! They just weigh up these totally cool looking soft-shell turtles, and sell them by the pound like so much chuck meat!! So sad to see

Any more input would be welcomed. Otherwise, thank you for letting me bend your ear a bit

-Pete
NYC

ah youre from NYC.. I live in the Jersey City area. the pet store I took my RES to was Freds up im spring valley, NY. the website is fredspets.com, and has the phone number on it. he still takes them in.

>>BTW, I work for FDA. It might be interesting to some of you to know that the FDA regulates the sale of pet turtles. A rise in the incidence of salmonella in children, usually a food-borne illness, was linked to turtles kept as pets. It was determined that it was from kids putting their hands in their mouths after handling, so they banned the sale of turtles under 6" because it put a big crimp in their popularity as pets. FDA was charged with enforcing the law since we handle food-borne illness issues, but there is no present day enforcement of the law that I am aware of. There was in the beginning, but now there isn't. Turtles are as cute as dickens when newborn, but not as appealing to kiddies when they get bigger. Less pet turtles equaled less salmonella, and so problem "solved," except us enthusiasts are kept from enjoying them at that young age

That's interesting. I know a lot of people who've bought hatchling turtles and then they want the turtle seller shut down. Not because the turtles have made someone sick but because the turtles are sick & it's hard to sit by & watch a turtle not make it because the person didn't realize he or she was buying a sick baby.
Even with vet care hatchlings are difficult to turn around once they're ill so they often don't make it no matter how hard you try to save them.
Nobody in my area can ever get any type of authority to shut down a seller who's selling sick animals. It's like banging your head against a brick wall to get anyone to DO anything about it.
I am half way across the country from you in TX. The enforcement of laws are lax, nobody really cares much.
So much for the 4 inch law...
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PHRatz

I'm going to try asking pet stores and/or a conservation center nearby that sometimes takes in unwanted animals to display for kids visiting the center.

Thanks everybody

I had a similiar problemm but the opposite a had a baby pt and a baby res the res grew very rapidly and after a while would bite the pt during feeding and would not let her bask in peace I finally gave the res to a freind in fear that i would find the pt dead or with no legs. This is probably due to the fact they are two different speices and maybe its a natural behavior in the wild to defend territory and food supply