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Well we got a new little friend for our Speedy. Speedy is about 2 inches long, and his new friend is only an inch long. We just put them in together, but i noticed Speedy tried to nip at the little one's tail.

Is this normal? What should we do?

Yes, this is completely normal behavior. Could you describe your set-up for us, size in gallons.

The only thing that you could do is divide the tank so they can't get at each other OR even better make a new set-up. Bullying frequently occurrs between large and small turtles. This is especially common when the little turtle is added to the big one's "territory."

We usually recommend that you quarantine turtles when you get them to keep your healthy turtle healthy. You may have to separate them into their own tanks if the bullying continues because the larger turtle could injure or kill the small one.

What size is the tank? If it's too small this could create territory issues. Just a side note, turtles are solitary creatures and don't need a "friend".

Well... I think it's only a 10 gallon tank. We're going to be upgrading to a 55 gallon soon. I guess we could keep them separated for a bit when we get the other tank, but what should we do until then?

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7780/1001047xs9.jpg

here's a pic of the two turtles and their setup

Well if the larger is attacking the little one, the only choice you have with a tank that small is to put one of them in another setup.

Just a suggestion here, but you may want to remove some of your larger rocks since your tank is already too small for your turtles. You could also add some floating plants for the little guy to hide in.

Yea... I was thinking about removing the boulders... Speedy used to like to sit up on them and move them around a bit, but now that i look at it, we could probably remove them to free up some space.

Hmm... I've been watching them closely, they would get right next to each other, and Speedy isn't attacking him, he's just looking at him. He puts his head right up on top of the little guy to inspect him, so Speedy is definitely close enough to attack him, but he is choosing not to.

You could just get a Rubbermaid storage container with his own set-up to keep the smaller one in until you get a bigger tank. They can grow fast---a bigger tank is better.

RES younglings won't attack each other as in biting but rather bully one another by pushing or shoving around to get to a certain place or to eat. I feed my two RES in the same tank, the bigger one is always dominant during feeding time so I have to keep him occupied while I feed the other. This is nothing to worry about everyone, the younger is eating fine. Once they become about the same size, I doubt it would be a problem anymore.

TheOneCalledRed wrote:RES younglings won't attack each other as in biting but rather bully one another by pushing or shoving around to get to a certain place or to eat. I feed my two RES in the same tank, the bigger one is always dominant during feeding time so I have to keep him occupied while I feed the other. This is nothing to worry about everyone, the younger is eating fine. Once they become about the same size, I doubt it would be a problem anymore.

Although this normally may be true... he put a new turtle in with an established turtle. Not to mention the tank is only 10 gallons which is too small for a 2.5" turtle.. let alone adding a 2nd turtle to the tank.

Have you always had your 2 in the same tank? Jockeying for position during feeding time is different than trying to bite the tail and chasing the other during non-feeding times.