General Care Discussion :: Adding a New Turtle

[annabanana116]

So, my turtle, Squirt, is a male RES and he's around 2 years old. He's about 3.5 inches long. An opportunity for me came up to adopt another RES, whose owner needs to find him a new home. The new turtle is also a male around 2 years old and the same size. Squirt is in a 55 gallon tank. I've read so much about how RES are notoriously aggressive and violent. I saw a lot about how one turtle can bully the other if it is bigger. If they are the same size/age, would they maybe be okay together? Squirt and the other turtle haven't really ever been around another turtle. (Actually, when I got Squirt he was in a tank with a ton of other turtles, but that was quite a while ago) If taking the new turtle could be any harm to Squirt, I don't want to take the risk. Suggestions?????? Thanks.

[Kansasslider]

Don't make a commitment but you could try to put them together and watch and see. Keep in mind that you might still have to separate them at some point. Then again maybe not. The short answer is no one really knows what will happen. I'm going to introduce all my turtles together at some point but I also have the means to separate if need be.

[steve]

Unless you're sure you can keep 2 separate tanks, then I would say no. Males, when 3-4" can become aggressive at anytime, without warning.