Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is very disturbing to me so please forgive my naivete. Do turtles normally kill other turtles or do I have an evil one?
I purchased two small North American Wood turtles last week. One was about 2.25" and the killer turtle is 3.75". This morning my daughter slapped the tank to get the bigger one off the smaller one. Evidently it was not playing around because he crunched the smaller one's head.
They are supposed to be intelligent and social, aren't they?

We're intelligent and social, but that certainly hasn't halted our aggressive behavior. I think what you are seeing is typical pecking order behavior, and from what I understand, it is a very common behavior for NA wood turtles. The fact that it is your larger individual initiating the aggression goes even further toward this. It sounds like they are both too small/young for this to be a sexually motivated territorial dispute, so you may simply have a turtle with a particularly aggressive (anti-social) personality. I would keep a very close eye on the situation and be ready to separate the two into private enclosures. In the meantime, any cover you can provide in their current enclosure may help provide refuge to the smaller turtle and help calm the tension. I think you'll need to separate them though?

>>This is very disturbing to me so please forgive my naivete. Do turtles normally kill other turtles or do I have an evil one?
>> I purchased two small North American Wood turtles last week. One was about 2.25" and the killer turtle is 3.75". This morning my daughter slapped the tank to get the bigger one off the smaller one. Evidently it was not playing around because he crunched the smaller one's head.
>> They are supposed to be intelligent and social, aren't they?

you have an aggressive turtle. some are agro, some are not. They're as individual as we are. i assume the little one's dead. don't buy another one.
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Buslady of SoCal
Breeder of Ornate Wood Turtles
7 Ornate Wood turtles, 1, Reeves and 1 Spottie.

Wood turtles are known for their aggression, even at a young age.

Katrina