housing

Question
I have two yellow belly sliders that I have had for 8 months,that is how old they are.  I jsut recently came across a tiny painted turtle can i keep them in the same tank all together?


Answer
Uhhhhh.... yes and no.

1. Make sure it is legal in your area to catch and keep baby turtles. In many places, they count as 'fish' or are otherwise protected by lay.

2. Even if it is legal, catching wild turtles as pets really stresses them out badly. I always recommend releasing wild-caughts.

3. If you have LOTS of room, things will be OK, but if there is ANY stress, the bigger turtles will become territorial and either actively attack the smaller turtle, or passively block it from food, shelter, basking, etc.

The size rule of thumb is about 10 gallons of actual water for every inch of turtle shell length total. So, if you have 5" of turtles, you should have 50 gallons of water, or a mostly filled 75 gallon tank.

Good luck!