res,painted&snapping turtles

Question
I have 3res turtles about 1&ahalf inches $apainted turtle about 2 inches in a 50 gal. lobster tank. a friend gave my asnapper about 2 inches. is it ok to put the snapper with the other turtles?

Answer
The big issues are:

Crowding: To avoid stress and aggression, we want turtles in LARGE tanks. While a 50 gal. seems big, the rule of thumb we use is 10 gallons of actual water per inch of shell length. You already have 6.5" of turtles, so should have them in at least a 75+ gallon tank to allow room for other things. You want to add 2 more inches, so you need 85 gallons, or a 100 gallon tank... for now.

When your current turtles get full sized, you will need about 350+ gallons- not including another 80-100 gallons for the snapper.

Most people automatically think this size requirement is an exaggeration, or too generous- but remember that in the wild, turtles rarely ever are found close to each other except while basking or mating. They need their space.

Habitat: Sliders and Painted like BIG water- deep, open spaces, etc. Snappers like shallower water, but still need room to move and actually do SOME swimming when young.

Aggression: Snappers generally do not play well with other turtle species and should generally be housed alone, or in big outdoor shared ponds. He will be OK while young, but this will not last long.



For more info, try http://www.austinsturtlepage.com and http://www.turtleforum.com

Good luck!