red eared slider seeking female roommate

Question
Hi.  I have a 5 year old male res i have had since he was a baby; love him to bits.  I was wondering if he would welcome a girlfriend for company but need to know how big the tank would need to be (i'm in Canada, so most of the year outside isnt an option), how close in size they should be, etc.  I have a really good filter for my 40 gallon current tank, and my guy is very healthy.  He is the first turtle i've had.  Any info appreciated, thanks so much.

Answer
Turtles are semi-social. They welcome company as long as the tank is very, very roomy. Figure about 10 gallons of water per inch of shell length total- so your guy is probably 4-5 inches or so, so needs 40-50 gallons of water all to himself. Adding another same size turtle would double that need.

It is better to keep one turtle happy and healthy then it is to have two that are even a little crowded.

As mammals, we LIKE companionship, but turtles mostly ignore other turtles in the wild. When you see them sharing a basking site, that is not really sharing- that is called 'conspecific behavior'- one turtle sees another turtle on a log and figures it is safe and a good site, so he goes there too. Soon, others join in.

They are not really being friendly. It is more like a McDonald's moving in because Burger King is there and they figure if there is enough business for them, there is enough business for me.

By the way, a good site for good care articles and more is http://www.austinsturtlepage.com