My pet terrapin

Question
I have recently purchased my second terrapin, a baby one. My first, seems to be constantly attacking and bullying him. The woman in the petshop from which I have bought both terrapins tells me she is not an expert, and is not sure if it is normal for them they bite and purposly try to scare each other. Is it normal, and will it stop? I am also unaware to the point of which, is my yellow bellied water terrapin supposed to hibernate?

Answer
Hi Nadine,

There is a chance that they can live together, but it involves a lot of work and there is some risk that the 1st turtle can badly injure the 2nd one, so you might consider just letting them live in separate tanks.

If you want to go ahead and try to have them live together (I did this myself and it worked, but I can't guarantee it will work for every pair of turtles):

First, get a new tank (that is big enough for 2 turtles, of course).  A new tank will provide a neutral territory.  The original tank is already the 1st turtle's territory and it will be more difficult to get him to share if you use it.  The bigger the tank, the less likely they are to fight.

Next, hang out by the tank for a couple of days.  Whenever you see the 1st turtle bite the 2nd turtle, pop up and give the 1st turtle a firm tap on the top of his shell.  If your turtle is like my turtle, he will start looking for you before he tries to bite the other turtle.  Or he may go up to him in an innocent way, hang out by him, and then look for you before he sneaks a bite in.  If you are consistent, the turtle will eventually give up and share his territory.

HOWEVER, if the problem isn't biting, but mating, you will not be able to get them to live together peacefully.  If the 1st turtle is constantly trying to mate with the 2nd, you'll have to separate them.

Again, there are risks to doing this.  If you are not around the 2nd turtle can become injured badly.  When I did this I moved the couch next to my turtle pond and just hung out by the tank for a couple of days.  It was boring, but my turtles have lived together peacefully for many years.  Like your turtles, the newcomer was a lot smaller.

Good luck,
Amanda