aggression in red eared sliders

Question

I have two red eared sliders...male and female, both about 6 years old and living together in a 75 gallon tank for almost 5yrs. The female's shell is about 6in long and the male is about 4in long. They eat mostly tetra turtle pellets with occassional pieces of baby carrots and lettuce. They have akways gotten along and would often stack to bask under the heat lamp. Recently we found the male clamped onto the female's neck. Once seprated by me, I could see the bite mark was deep and the wound seemed open. We kept the two separated overnight and tried to put them in the same tank again as we had never seen violence btwn the two. Once again, the male tried to attack. Is permanent separation the only solution? I don't understand what is happening after 5yrs od peace.

Answer
This happens in captivity all the time. It is probably a combination of crowding, sexual maturity, domination, etc.

The rule of thumb for avoiding problems is to allow 10 gallons of actual water space per inch of turtle shell length. With yours, the habitat should be about 100 gallons of actual water- and they are not yet fully grown- the male can hit 9" and the female 12".

I know this is not easy, which is why many experienced keepers rarely recommend Red-ear Sliders. Your other alternative is indeed to separate them.

Try http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for more ideas and a great forum.

Good luck!