General Care Discussion :: Turtle attacking all of a sudden

[jackie2015]

Thanks for all your responses to my questions about why one of my turtles wasn't growing. Both turtles were in a 20 gal. tank and I just got a 55 gallon over the weekend. They have been getting along since I got them in December. Last night the larger one tried to attack the little guy. I wasn't sure that's what she was doing so I pushed her away and she came right back at him. I've taken the smaller one out and put him in the other tank. Is there a reason she's started doing this and is there anything else I can do about it other than keeping them separated from now on? Thanks.

[Jeremiah]

Aggression is usually inevitable with RES. Unfortunately, permanent separation is probably necessary.

[jackie2015]

Thanks. Well at least I still have the smaller tank. Since the smaller turtle is barely bigger than a 50 cent piece, he can live there for a while. It does seem like she's gotten a little aggressive since I found out I was seriously overfeeding her and cut back.

[steve]

Are you feeding her veggies? If the little one is a female too, you might try again when she's bigger.

[jackie2015]

From what I've read I think the larger one is a female and the smaller one a male, but I'm not completely sure. I've been offering veggies everyday and neither turtle will touch them. I even tried not feeding any pellets one day and just giving veg but it didn't work. Also, yesterday when I picked her up so that I could clean the tank, she started hissing at me. She's never done that before.

[steve]

The smaller one is a hatchling, and they are usually not aggressive whether it's a male or female. Females can become aggressive, sorry to hear that might be the case.