Urgent Care :: Turtle Bites

[littlebit_sls]

I have two RES that I've had for almost ten years now. I believe they are both female. They are housed in a 55 gal tank that they have been in for at least 2yrs. I have noticed recently that one of the turtles has a missing nail like it was bitten off. I thought it was an isolated incident, but the within the past week I have noticed that the same turtle that was missing the nail also had a bite on the back of its neck. Not sure what would all of a sudden bring on aggressive behavior but the wound looks pretty nasty. Other than that they both eat and are acting like everything is normal. No other alarming behavior. What should I do or how could I stop it?

[bover907]

I'd imagine ten year old girls are pretty big. How big are they? perhaps it's time to get a bigger tank?

[worldpeace]

The obvious reason why they are fighting is because your tank is two small for the two of them. There's a rule about having 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle and, from what you're saying, I'm guessing that your turtles sizes added are bigger than 5 inches. Two years ago they were probably satisfied with the 55 gallon tank but as they grew this is no longer enough for them. They feel like the other one is invading its personal space and so they become aggressive.

There's something else that could also be happening. How are you feeding your turtles? Do you give their food in the tank or in a separate container? Besides the territorial issue, turtles sometimes fight over food. To eliminate this problem feed them separately in different containers.

What I suggest is that you try feeding them separately first (if you aren't already doing so) and see if they continue to fight. If they don't, you should probably still upgrade to a bigger tank. But if they remain aggressive, the solution would be to separate them in different tanks.

[littlebit_sls]

They don't get fed separately. The biting stops once they are given food. It doesn't start because of the food.

[worldpeace]

So if you know the aggressiveness is not caused by the food, you should start thinking about roomier tank.

[blackforces get you]

i kind of have the same problem. and i don't think i have enough space for a bigger one. can i just work with what ive got? (but not for too long)

[gwennie]

It's probably in the best interest for both of you and your respective turtles to really separate them before any more grievous injuries take place that are 100% preventable.