RED EAR SLIDERS

[Carol S]

Last October I was given TWO male Red Ear Sliders (which appear to be almost fully grown). They are living in my pond outside. I know that tortoises should not be kept in pairs; is this also true for Red Ear Sliders? I have two ponds that are connected by a spillway so there is a lot of room for them. I am thinking about possibly getting one or two more males, but I will definitely get at least one more if having only two is not a good idea because of the possibility of bullying. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cdmay]

I have exactly zero experience with RES. But I would bet that someone here does.
Be patient, someone will step up.

 

[Yvonne G]

@Markw84

 

[dmmj]

I've had red ear sliders for 30 plus years but I've only had one or more than three never 2 I don't know how well they do in pairs

 

[Yvonne G]

I have 5 females together in my pond, but I've never had males. The females all get along ok.

 

[Markw84]

Basking turtles do not have a "bullying" issue as described for tortoises they congregate together for basking and a lot of feeding activity. When given a choice they will choose to be with another rather than alone a group basking is much safer and they will normally place themselves touching or even on top of one another. They form a group with many heads and eyes on the lookout. If one sees danger it will immediately dive into the water causing the whole group to head to safety

With that said, male red-ears are the most aggressive US basking turtle by far. While courting (which is quite a bit if the year) they will chase all turtles even if other species and bite at them trying to grab the skin on the top of the back of the neck. A female red ear around a male continuously will get raw wounds on the back of the neck. I've had several males who would do this to many turtles not just female red ears!! Because of this I will not keep male red-ears in my pond. Not even just one!

Interestingly the Trachemys are some of the most aggressive of basking turtles. And the further south you go- the more aggressive the species seems to get the Mexican and the Central American Trachemys are very aggressive as are the Caribbean types I've dealt with

 

[Carol S]

Basking turtles do not have a "bullying" issue as described for tortoises they congregate together for basking and a lot of feeding activity. When given a choice they will choose to be with another rather than alone a group basking is much safer and they will normally place themselves touching or even on top of one another. They form a group with many heads and eyes on the lookout. If one sees danger it will immediately dive into the water causing the whole group to head to safety

With that said, male red-ears are the most aggressive US basking turtle by far. While courting (which is quite a bit if the year) they will chase all turtles even if other species and bite at them trying to grab the skin on the top of the back of the neck. A female red ear around a male continuously will get raw wounds on the back of the neck. I've had several males who would do this to many turtles not just female red ears!! Because of this I will not keep male red-ears in my pond. Not even just one!

Interestingly the Trachemys are some of the most aggressive of basking turtles. And the further south you go- the more aggressive the species seems to get the Mexican and the Central American Trachemys are very aggressive as are the Caribbean types I've dealt with

So if I only have male Red Ear sliders in my pond and no females, then I should not have a problem, correct?

 

[Markw84]

So if I only have male Red Ear sliders in my pond and no females, then I should not have a problem, correct?

I have found they can be aggressive to other types of turtles too. You may have no problem but it sometimes is. Your decision

 

[Alex Z]

Last October I was given TWO male Red Ear Sliders (which appear to be almost fully grown). They are living in my pond outside. I know that tortoises should not be kept in pairs; is this also true for Red Ear Sliders? I have two ponds that are connected by a spillway so there is a lot of room for them. I am thinking about possibly getting one or two more males, but I will definitely get at least one more if having only two is not a good idea because of the possibility of bullying. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Males do not get along..I recently rescued an adult who kived with another male ..Logwn...we named him..has become timid and stopped eating. We had him for 2 weeks...and this morning he just ate for the first time...males do not get along..We had to seperate them...one will get bullied and a bad injury waiting to happen...

 

[KevinGG]

Really depends on your turtles and your setup. I've kept males together with no problems. A single male and single female has been more problematic. A single male and a group of females can still be problematic. In my small group of rescued RES, the male is singling out a female. I wish I would have learned what Mark wrote above a long time ago. Now I'm going to have to either find a new home for or build a new pond for that male. Of course, behavior changes if in a pond or in an aquarium. Do they have areas to hide, sight barriers, plants, etc? The larger the space and the more opportunity to escape bullying and breeding will help keep stress free turtles. Even then, you may have an overly aggressive turtle that needs to be removed. So again, it really depends on your turtles and your setup.