Habitat - Indoor :: Want to give Donatella a friend.

[Tania]

Hey everyone,

I want to get her a friend. She is about 2-3 years old, about the size of an average female hand.



Image doesn't really do her justice, since it's taken from above, but thats a medium sized half log and the small zoo med dock (for proportions)

Ideally we wanted to get a little painted as a buddy for her, because she seems to always want to play.

If we were to get another turtle for her, would she kill/eat it? She is not an aggressive turtle (besides when it comes to snails and goldfish, hehe) but i wouldnt want to hurt another turtle.

Any ideas??

THANKS!!

[LilTurtSquirt]

[seano997]

It isn't very recommended to house an RES with another turtle, especially if yours has already lived in the same tank on her own for a few years. You could probably try it but you would have to watch them super closely to make sure the little one doesn't get injured or anything. If it does end up getting injured, you would probably want to consider seperating them but that would mean a whole new setup for the new turtle.

[Tania]

Right now I have two tanks, 1 20 L and a 55 Gallon. She lives in the 55, the picture was taken in the smaller because she was having renovations on her tank.

When I got her, she came with two other turtles. SO for the first 1.5-2 years she lives with two other turtles.

I had to give two away thinking I couldn't take care of them, now she seems as if she wants a companion.

She goes wild when she see's the other turtle on her cannister of food. Or maybe she is just excited for food?

I'm prepared equipment wise for a second turtle, just wanted to double check and make sure they don't regularly kill smaller turtles

[LilTurtSquirt]

[theartbook35]

I would not get another red eared slider.

If you really want another turtle, get a non-slider species. RES will fight with any other type of slider, not just RES. (yellow bellied, red bellied, cumberland, etc.). Diamondback terrapins, painteds, musk turtles, map turtles (although very sensitive to environments), and any other aquatic species that are non-sliders and like deep water will most likely get along with Donatella.

[454Casull]

Don't do it.

[RR38]

I would not get another red eared slider.

If you really want another turtle, get a non-slider species. RES will fight with any other type of slider, not just RES. (yellow bellied, red bellied, cumberland, etc.). Diamondback terrapins, painteds, musk turtles, map turtles (although very sensitive to environments), and any other aquatic species that are non-sliders and like deep water will most likely get along with Donatella.

I kind off disagree with this. RES will fight anything. My RES has attacked a southern painted before. RES are actually one of the meanest turtles IMO towards other turtles you can get.
Now on to tania and the question at hand, I am not saying its impossible to house two or more RES together. Right now I actually have two full grown adult female RES in a 150 gallon preformed pond that is built in my house. In my experience, you run into problems more when you have a male and a female together. If you want to do it, get another female, and make sure there is enough space for each turtle to have thier own "area". If you really wanna do this, its going to require a MUCH larger tank. I am talking probably a 5 or 6 foot long tank, around the 150-160 gallon range. Most tanks that size are going to be at least 24" wide also. I am glad you asked your questions first, before going out and buying another turtle. So many people buy first and ask later.

[n00bEmpty]

It depends on the personality of your slider. I personally have had bad and good situations. When I first introduced my slider to my map turtles they did fine, not fighting or anything but then one day I put a smaller turtle in for temporary housing and my turtle chewed on it's leg ~13 hours later and killed it. When you introduce another turtle then put in turtles with similar size.

[Spike 7.62]

If you've got the money to buy another setup then try it. By the time Donatella is full grown, she may beed a 120+ gallon tank.. female RES get big! You will be rolling the dice on how they behave with each other. Personally, I advise against getting a second turtle unless you've got the money and time to house it.

Have you considered adding fish? Chances are they will be eaten at some point, but until then they are fun and interact with the turtle. If you get faster, smaller ones like neons they may last longer.

-Spike

[theartbook35]

I would not get another red eared slider.

If you really want another turtle, get a non-slider species. RES will fight with any other type of slider, not just RES. (yellow bellied, red bellied, cumberland, etc.). Diamondback terrapins, painteds, musk turtles, map turtles (although very sensitive to environments), and any other aquatic species that are non-sliders and like deep water will most likely get along with Donatella.

I kind off disagree with this. RES will fight anything. My RES has attacked a southern painted before. RES are actually one of the meanest turtles IMO towards other turtles you can get.
Now on to tania and the question at hand, I am not saying its impossible to house two or more RES together. Right now I actually have two full grown adult female RES in a 150 gallon preformed pond that is built in my house. In my experience, you run into problems more when you have a male and a female together. If you want to do it, get another female, and make sure there is enough space for each turtle to have thier own "area". If you really wanna do this, its going to require a MUCH larger tank. I am talking probably a 5 or 6 foot long tank, around the 150-160 gallon range. Most tanks that size are going to be at least 24" wide also. I am glad you asked your questions first, before going out and buying another turtle. So many people buy first and ask later.

Some RES do attack other non-slider species sometimes, the operative words being "most likely" not "always".

At this point my options with Hurricane and Typhoon are either keep them separate in two smaller tanks, or keep them in one huge 250 to 300 gallon tank when they are full grown. For some reason I prefer the giant 300 gallon with lots of hiding places. So, I do agree with you completely on how to house two turtles together.

Cane and Ty have divided the tank in half for each other. They do share, but they have their own special spaces just for them. It's funny, though, I originally put in hiding places simply because Ty likes to hide more than Cane.