General Care Discussion :: Baby Sliders Biting Each Other?

[MVB]

Hi, I know this is a forum for Red Eared Sliders, but I hear Yellow Bellied Sliders require the same care and I don't know where else to turn to.

I just got two beautiful baby Sliders a week ago, each equal in size, which is about 1 inch to 1 and a half inches long; https://sphotos-b.xx...087434792_n.jpg. I'm a new turtle owner, so I'm still learning. They're currently in a plastic 20 gal. rubbermaid type container, with a water filter, water heater and basking lamp. I've been feeding them on a mixture of freezedried mealworms, river shrimp, pellets and fish.

Up until last night I had no problems. They seemed to knock each other around with their limbs and climb over each other a bit, but neither seemed to mind, but last night, I was feeding them as usual though, and one of them started to bite the other turtle. I heard they can get competative over food and that I should feed them separately, so I tried that and things seemed fine for a couple of hours.

Later on in the evening they kept climbing over each other to bask, which I thought might just be playing, but as I was watching later I saw the second turtle (the one who has been bitten before) try to bite the first turtle's face. It looked like the first turtle retraced his head just in time.

Now I'm really panicked that they might kill each other. Does anyone know if they're capable of seriously damaging one another at this age? Is this serious, or are they just playing? Is this normal behaviour for them? Would it perhaps be best for me to give one of them away to a new owner?

Please let me know what I should do.

Best regards,

-MVB

[steve]

I don't know how much damage they would be able to do, but it can make for a stressful environment. Early aggression might just be a personality trait and I would keep them separate. You can try to reintroduce them later under supervision, but aggression doesn't usually go away.

[MVB]

Thanks for the advice Steve. I actually watched them for several hours yesterday after feeding them in separate tanks and they seem to be getting along/leaving each other alone. I put more big rocks in their tank and expanded their basking area, so I think that may have improved things. I think the basking rock was too small and they were fighting over the space. Now there are plenty of places for them to hang out. Usually when I wake up they're right beside each other, but this morning they were at opposite ends of the tank and seemed happy enough.



If I see more biting I guess I'll have to separate them and see how that works out.

[steve]

If that's the only basking area (the links on the original post do not show up) then it should be moved to the opposite side where a UVB lamp and a basking lamp would also go.

[MVB]

Oh no, those rocks are just blocking the stream from the water filter, there's a whole lot of rocks at the other side that they can climb on to bask. When they were fighting, there was only the one though.

[MVB]

This is where they bask, there's a big plank of wood stretching across this side of the tank too, so there's plenty of room to bask and hide. Too much room to hide, I think - I keep losing one of them.

Since I added the new rocks, etc, I think they've been considerably less territorial. I think their tank was just too boring and sparse for them.

[steve]

They like to hide... you do need to be careful about tight spaces they might get stuck in. They are curious about their surroundings, so you might need to re-examine how things are kept.

[MVB]

I've closed off areas where I've seen them get trapped before. a few days ago one of them got caught up behind the water heater wire and I watched the other one come along and pull him free. It was cute, but I obviously can't count on such luck.

[MVB]

Brief update;

First of all, they're doing fine! They seem to be getting along much better and I haven't observed any fighting since that day. I've been maintaining this peace by feeding them at separate intervals in a separate container from their tank.

[steve]

Thanks for the update!