Why are my turtles fighting?

[oiler17]

We have three RES's sharing two 40-gallon pond-type enclosures, and lately the biggest one has been going after the smallest one. Is this normal? They've been seperated but they've gotten along since we added the two smaller turtles, and he doesn't go after the middle-sized one, which isn't too much bigger than the smallest one. What's going on?

[Darkest]

It seems that you have an agressive RES on your hands. And a big RES and small RES combination doesn't work. So i advise you to remove the one thats being bothered and wait awhile before you bother putting the small one back in.

[elfomatic]

Yep. He could end up killing the small one.

That's kind of weird though because you said they are in a pond-type enclosure ... do you mean like an outdoor pond? Usually if you have enough space in a pond enclosure the submissive one can just avoid the aggressive one.

[oiler17]

Thanks for all the help.. they've been seperated.

The ponds are indoor. I don't know if they're technically "ponds" but I called them that because it's an open top set up, if that makes sense. There are two 40 gallon "troughs" set up and a little basking area in between. I just put some big rocks between the two so they can't move from one to the other.

So if it's bad to mix big ones with small ones, why did they just now start fighting? they've been sharing this same set up for about 8 months or more, and they just started having problems in the past week.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Hey,

I know relatively nothing about turtles, but could it be that the larger one is a male and the mid-sized one is a female and the smallest that is being bothered is a male, and the larger male is "defending" his female? Or could it be that he is being a VERY agressive male toward the smaller one and trying to breed it if it is a female? Have your temeperatures changed? Just some speculation.

C.

[elfomatic]

Well, actually, with RES the bigger one would most likely be the female if they are full grown. :) And if they aren't they can still get aggressive. RES are very aggressive turtles.

And CandB14 may be on to something ... It could be that that turtle has reached sexual maturity before the others and is getting territorial ...

[latazyo]

these are my turtles, if you do a search for my username in the enclosure showcase you'll see pics of the pond set up he's explaining

here is the skinny on the animals

the male: I bought him 13 years ago and have had him the entire time (based on tail and long *** claws, I'm 99% it's male)

the other two: one is a medium sized what is believed to be a female (again based on the tail and claws)

the one that is being picked on is a much smaller (again believed to be female)

Trent, I check Daisy's claws and compare them to Zzordon and the other one

longer claws (like Zzordon's) indicate a male (usually, but not conclusive)

[elfomatic]

Well, then it sounds like he has reached sexual maturity. Male RES can be very aggressive. If the other two are females then they will be bigger than him someday but he still may bully them if their enclosure isn't big enough.

[lostwithin]

from personal experience my male RES would attack any newcomers too the enclosure, they are just aggressive towards new turtles, I would NOT introduce a new turtle that is smaller at all, and if introducing any turtle watch carefully, when I introduced my new female a while back my male was aggressive and eventually one night he took a HUGE chunk out of the side of her neck, luckly the wound was mostly superficial and I was able too treat it myself, it healed up nicely, after that I had no problems. They get along great, guess he just had too show who’s boss.

Devon

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Wow! I actually was pretty close in my thoughts! Lol.

So maybe the smallest one COULD(but not forsure) be a male? Anyways, good luck with them!

C.

[latazyo]

the three were introduced into the new "enclosure" at the same time

the male lived in an aquarium his first 12 years