Would it be safe to put older turtles with babies?

Question

I have 2 year-old red eared sliders. One is almost 3 1/2 inches long and 3 1/4 inches wide, and the other one is just a bit smaller. I want to get two more res, and the ones i saw were about quarter-sized. would it be safe to keep the 4 turtles together?

Answer 1

I assume that you have a tank with a 70-gallon capacity now and are planning to get one of at least 90-gallons. If so, you MIGHT get away with adding two more turtles. Put the hatchlings in the larger tank first and give them a week to get used to it. Then, add the older ones. This would give the hatchlings a fighting chance at not getting bullied. No guarantees, though. It's probably not a good idea. Besides, you'd have to get a still larger tank in short order.

Answer 2

not to sound harsh or anything, but my answer is He** no!!!!!!You have 2 sliders already! Please do not get anymore! And yes those babies will die either getting eaten or getting onto the fight of their liveeeessss!!!!!! Please do not get anymore, i doubt you have the space! I mean come on do you really have a 200 gallon tank! Because you already need 100 gallons because one red eared slider requires 50 gallons!!!!!  

Answer 3

NO MORE TURTLES...K?   Unless you have a pond or 125gal tank or bigger. Did you knmow that they are suppose to getup to 12" in length?

I have had my 2 slider  girls for 36 yrs. Plus an 8 and 5 yr old and now a 2 yr old that was adopted last week from this site.... Been in a pond for almost 7 yrs now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

As long as there is plenty of fish to eat and room for that many, hopefully you have at least a 55 gal tank.

You willknow when its time for a BIGGER tank cause they will fight. They are canabalistic IF they don't have room and food.

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle.

Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

You need a good filter system! Gravel larger than they can swallow.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear! This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They can have garden worm, meal worms, crickets, flies anything that moves!

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles, Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables that Vitamin A’.

Red-eared sliders, Gender especially juveniles, can be difficult to s*x. Gender in adults is determined by external physical characteristics and behavior. Males have longer fore claws (which are use in courtship), a longer tail length. Males are smaller in size and shell length. Turtles are considered juveniles till after 5 yrs old.

Answer 4

How big of a tank do you have?! You should have 10 gallons of water for every inch of turtle shell in the water.

Anyway, to your question (which the previous statement does have some impact on).

Turtles are not social animals, the only time they seek each other's company if given a choice is during breeding season. New turtles in the tank may well be seen as an invasion of territory or competition for food (which it WILL become... you may notice it with the two you already have... one getting more food than the other and being more pushy at mealtime.)

Adding more turtles will cause some nipping at the very least... whether it's at feet or head should not be left to see. Also, take into consideration that the new turtles could be carrying bacteria or parasites that the ones you have have not been exposed to; buying captive bred may cut down on the likelyhood of parasites and or illness, but nothing's 100%.