Question
Freddie & Tango
Hi Heather,
I recently bought a terrapin - a yellow-bellied slider, as far as I know. I don't know how old he is, but his shell is approximately 2" x 2". He was doing fine on his own, eating well and keeping active. On Monday I added another terrapin to the aquarium - this one has a red belly, and is tiny - around half the size of the first.
They didn't interact at all to begin with, and I was having trouble getting the small one to eat, so I've started taking the big one out for a while to give the little one a chance. This works fine, but I worry that I'm causing the big one stress by having him out of the aquarium for so long. (I put him in a plastic container with water and damp tissue, it's the container the petshop gave me to transport him)
Today I've noticed some strange behaviour. The terrapins face each other, almost touching, and the big one puts his 'hands' right in front of his face. He slowly moves them in a strange motion - almost as if he's playing peep! He covers his eyes and face then lifts his hands in a semi-circular motion before 'hiding' again.
Is this a form of aggression? The small one watches for a while before swimming away. I've seen this scenario played out twice tonight, and I'm worried that it's aggressive or unfriendly.
As for the set-up, we have everything the pet shop recommended. One thing they didn't mention was a UV light - is this something I should get?
I'd also like a little more clarification as to how much to feed them - I live in Ireland, so a comparison with a dollar coin won't help!
Are there any books or websites you can recommend? I'd love to get my hands on comprehensive, reliable information as there are a lot of different opinions on the sites I've seen so far.
Thanks so much in advance.
AnswerHello Siona,
Beleive it or not the one with the red belly is in fact a Red Belly Turtle. (Red Bellied Cooter)
Simple huh?
-I hate to break it to you but pet shops usually don't know what they are talking about.
In the photo I see you have aquarium rock at the bottom of the tank? That needs to be removed. Most people (myself included) use nothing at the tank bottom just plain glass. The turtles don't mind.
You can also use LARGE clean river rock. Those pebbles are too small and can easily be accidently eaten and cause severe digestive problems for your turtles.
UV lighting is extremely important to their health and I am glad you mentioned that you don't have it.
A repti-sun 5.0 bulb is the one I recommened getting , they are tube flourescent bulbs not to be confused with aquarium fish tank lighting.
It does sound as though the behavior is aggression and they may have to be separated as you might have two males (Two males will kill each other over territory)
Yellow Belly Sliders require the same exact care as the Red-Eared Slider so I am going to point you to the best site I know for that information:
http://redearslider.com
As for feeding...
You will want to feed them as many food items as they can eat in a 15 minute setting, any food left over after 15 minutes needs to be removed.
What all are you feeding them?
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