red eared slider behaviour

Question
Hi

I am sorry to bother you, but I have tried many paths to get some information and no-one seems to know the answer or able to help.

We have 2, 10 year old terrapins(red eared sliders) both female - we have had them all their life and have a good tank size for them, they get plenty of exercise as we let them roam outside their tank and are fed well with stimulation in their tank, but in the last few years on and off the smaller of the 2 has become quite aggressive of the other female, this happened years ago and resulted in the larger female getting a bad bite on her neck which we managed to heal but it is becoming very regular now and we are not always in to stop it. The smaller female keeps attacking the larger but it is so sporadic that we cannot work out the reasoning as it can happen every day and then nothing for months.

I worry that we should split them up but feel if we have to go down that road we are maybe better off trying to rehouse them with other terrapins so that they have company as isolation seems a sad way to keep them and not best for their needs.

I appreciate you  will busy but if you have any ideas on  why this is happening and could advise on what to do for the best as the situation is desperate and we just need to find an expert that can help.

Answer
Hello Lesley,

Your question is no bother to me, I am here to help.

Are you sure of the turtles' genders? It sounds like male dominant behavior. But sometimes females can also show the dominant and territorial behavior its just not as common. Red Ear Sliders do not live in groups and prefer to be alone in the wild. Fatal fighting sometimes occurs just because two turtles do not have enough room to share territory.

It does sound like they need to be split up. And don't worry about them feeling isolated or lonely. As I said before they prefer to be alone. They do not enjoy or need company. The only reason why you will find two turtles together in the wild is for mating, after mating they separate to their own territories again.

If they are both males you will definately have to separate them as they will kill eachother.

I hope that helps,
Yexalen