First, I want to say this site has helped me a lot over the past few years with my turtles!
Now, to tell a little about them. Mikey is 5 years old. He (and yes he is a male), is very petite and scared of everything. He has always been this way. When we got him he was about the size of a quarter and over two years he got to be the size of a jumbo Easter egg. So he didn't grow much at all even though he ate 3 times a day, and if we were late by say an hour he would start making lots of noise! We decided that he needed a friend, so we bought Donnie, who later we found out was a female. Still the name stuck! Anyways, she started out about the size of a quarter and was very friendly! After putting them in a 10 gallon tank (Mikey was alone in a 5 gallon) Mikey had a huge growth spurt and his eating slowed down. Donnie wasn't much of an eater anyways, so we were feeding them once a day. They were happy and both growing. Finally, Donnie outgrew Mikey, so I knew it was time for a bigger tank. We got a 20 gallon. That is when Mikey started the fluttering hands and being in Donnie's face. She didn't care, she would swim away or hide. Mikey also started biting Donnie's nails off. They used to share a floating rock to bask, but in that 20 gallon tank, and possibly because Donnie was growing way too fast, they acted like they couldn't. Mikey would have the rock at night and Donnie would stand up beside the filter, and Donnie would get the rock during the day while Mikey would swim. They were living comfortably again so I was happy. Fast forward to this January. Mikey started the biting thing again. He annoyed Donnie so much she would kick the rocks around and make so much noise I would have to separate them for a few hours. This went on for about a month then stopped. It started again in May, except Mikey bit Donnie's nose! It was nasty and raw for the longest time! As soon as I noticed I bought a bin and put some water in it for Mikey. He has been living in that plastic bin for almost 2 months. Tonight after cleaning the tank and bin, I thought I would reintroduce them. In the bin, Mikey stayed on one side and Donnie was on the other. They were not fighting, but they wouldn't even smell each other. So I put them both back in the tank and Donnie is acting like she wants to escape! Mikey is hiding under the floating rock until Donnie goes under it, then he hides beside the filter. They have never acted like this.
I guess what I want to know from you all, is do I keep them separated permanently? When I originally separated them two months ago, I had every intention of getting a filter for the 10 gallon and putting Mikey in it, and putting the tanks beside each other.
Donnie is now about 7" long and 6"wide and Mikey is 5" long and 4" wide (shell sizes). So I know they're big, but not too big to share a tank!
Please help if you can.
