Aggressive Slider

Question
I have two sliders approximate age 3 to 4 years.  I have them in a very large outdoor pond with well filtered water.  I believe they are both females.  I have noticed recently that one of them keep bitting the rear portion of the shell and chewing on the tail of the smaller turtle.  I have separted them but want to know what I should do to be able to put them back together.  They have been together their whole life but am concerned the larger one will injure the other.  Please advise what is happening and what to do going forward.

Thank you for your help

Ernie

Answer
Ernie, It could be two things. This behavior is typical in courtship. She will not be sexually mature for about 2 more years and he is now. So he will keep trying and may injure her. It could also be stress or aggression caused by crowding if your pond is small. Unfortunately the only thing you can do is separate them or enlarge the pond if necessary and hope it works. No matter what if there is shell biting going on this is serious. The shell is not an exo-skeleton. It IS part of their actual rib cage and invertebral spine Good Luck, Tina