Is he being chewed?

[KarenSoCal]

I know absolutely nothing about turtles, so will go by what you "turt" folks think.

My friend has 2 RES, both over 7 years old, and both male. For the past 3 months or so, they have lived together in a stock tank...I don't know how many gallons it holds. I will guess that it's about 3' x 2' or a little bigger. All has seemed fine, with both eating and doing turtle things. They are able to get completely out of the water when desired.

My friend says one is an "Eastern" RES, and one is a "Western" RES.

The other day, when picked up, the "Eastern" turtle has these marks on him. We have wondered if this is some type of fungal shell rot, or a bacterial infection. Both turtles have been together, so the water doesn't seem to be an issue. The only thought we had was maybe the water gets too warm for the Eastern, since natively the water wouldn't reach the extreme heat that we have here in the low desert.

Then, upon closer inspection, I thought that possibly he is being chewed by the other turtle, but I don't know if this is an issue with turtles. The edge of the carapace looks gnawed, with pink areas in the center of the damage. It looks raw and is tender when touched. There is no injury to the plastron at all, and nothing above the edges on the carapace.

Here are pictures...what does everyone think, and how should we treat it? The turtles can be kept separately if necessary, but together would be ideal for their keeper. He was walking on gritty concrete, so you can see that on his plastron.

 

[TammyJ]

Sure looks like he is being chewed by something, most likely the other male RES. Should be separated anyway, my opinion. I used to keep RES turtles myself and know a bit.

 

[TammyJ]

Could be dominant aggressive mating behaviour.

 

[TammyJ]

Could be dominant aggressive mating behaviour.

Tammy, you really should explain better than that. Because you know that males will try to mount other males and will get aggressive, does not mean everyone else knows that too. Sheesh.

 

[zovick]

I know absolutely nothing about turtles, so will go by what you "turt" folks think.

My friend has 2 RES, both over 7 years old, and both male. For the past 3 months or so, they have lived together in a stock tank...I don't know how many gallons it holds. I will guess that it's about 3' x 2' or a little bigger. All has seemed fine, with both eating and doing turtle things. They are able to get completely out of the water when desired.

My friend says one is an "Eastern" RES, and one is a "Western" RES.

The other day, when picked up, the "Eastern" turtle has these marks on him. We have wondered if this is some type of fungal shell rot, or a bacterial infection. Both turtles have been together, so the water doesn't seem to be an issue. The only thought we had was maybe the water gets too warm for the Eastern, since natively the water wouldn't reach the extreme heat that we have here in the low desert.

Then, upon closer inspection, I thought that possibly he is being chewed by the other turtle, but I don't know if this is an issue with turtles. The edge of the carapace looks gnawed, with pink areas in the center of the damage. It looks raw and is tender when touched. There is no injury to the plastron at all, and nothing above the edges on the carapace.

Here are pictures...what does everyone think, and how should we treat it? The turtles can be kept separately if necessary, but together would be ideal for their keeper. He was walking on gritty concrete, so you can see that on his plastron.

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I agree with TammyJ. The turtle appears to be getting chewed up by the tank mate. Other signs of such aggression could be missing the tail tip or some of the toenails on the rear feet.

 

[Markw84]

Karen. Just a few things in case your friend is interested...

There is not such thing as regional differences in red eared sliders. So no "Eastern" or Western". There are some populations that are more colorful and the pattern is more striking, but that is a population thing. With Red-Ears so common world-wide now, you never know what you will see in any part of the world where you run into them now. Even the subspecies - yellow-bellies, and Cumberland - are sometimes hard to find in their home ranges as there are so many hybrids from released red-ears.

I do agree the damage looks like one turtle biting the other. Quite common with red-ears. You will even see that type of damage with spotted turtles more rarely and with razorback musk. Males frequently use biting at the back legs and back of shell to subdue the female for mating. Like Testudo tortoises ramming each other.

The plastron looks like repeated small bouts of shell rot. Gravel substrate can cause slight scraping and injury to the keratin and a place for bacteria/fungus to take hold. I see nothing active, but the tell-tale pits are signs of an old infection. Marginal water quality can cause it to start, but not too bad to let it progress unchecked - so it will heal on its own often. You just can't get it right with bigger turtles in a small tank like that. They need a lot of open water to stay healthy and reduce some aggression. Even though I havea 12 different species in my large pond, I personally will not keep RES in my pond because of their aggressiveness.

 

[TammyJ]

My female RES used to ambush pigeons that came to the water to drink. Not pretty!

 

[KarenSoCal]

Sure looks like he is being chewed by something, most likely the other male RES. Should be separated anyway, my opinion. I used to keep RES turtles myself and know a bit.

Thank you, Tammy. He is in his own tank now, and will stay there.

 

[KarenSoCal]

I agree with TammyJ. The turtle appears to be getting chewed up by the tank mate. Other signs of such aggression could be missing the tail tip or some of the toenails on the rear feet.

Thank you, Bill. I'll look more carefully at his feet and tail.
Is there anything we can do to help his shell heal? Or since he's alone, just let nature heal him? Those injured places are painful to him.

 

[KarenSoCal]

Karen. Just a few things in case your friend is interested...

There is not such thing as regional differences in red eared sliders. So no "Eastern" or Western". There are some populations that are more colorful and the pattern is more striking, but that is a population thing. With Red-Ears so common world-wide now, you never know what you will see in any part of the world where you run into them now. Even the subspecies - yellow-bellies, and Cumberland - are sometimes hard to find in their home ranges as there are so many hybrids from released red-ears.

I do agree the damage looks like one turtle biting the other. Quite common with red-ears. You will even see that type of damage with spotted turtles more rarely and with razorback musk. Males frequently use biting at the back legs and back of shell to subdue the female for mating. Like Testudo tortoises ramming each other.

The plastron looks like repeated small bouts of shell rot. Gravel substrate can cause slight scraping and injury to the keratin and a place for bacteria/fungus to take hold. I see nothing active, but the tell-tale pits are signs of an old infection. Marginal water quality can cause it to start, but not too bad to let it progress unchecked - so it will heal on its own often. You just can't get it right with bigger turtles in a small tank like that. They need a lot of open water to stay healthy and reduce some aggression. Even though I havea 12 different species in my large pond, I personally will not keep RES in my pond because of their aggressiveness.

Mark, as usual, thank you for the detailed response.

This turtle has only been with my friend for about a year. Previously he was in a tiny pond in someone's yard. The owners moved away and abandoned him. My pastor's wife started feeding him, and did so for around 5 years. When she found out my friend had a turtle...well, it didn't take long for the move to be made! 😅

Glider is also something of a Houdini. Somehow he managed to escape a wire-covered tank with nothing to step onto along the sides. He fell about 4 ft onto cement, and vanished for a few weeks. My friend was wondering how to explain this to our pastor's wife, when one morning she bumped something with her foot and there he was, waiting to get back into his tank! 😂🐢

I will pass all of this info on...my friend will be grateful. She really cares about her critters and tries to do the best she can by them.

 

[TammyJ]

One more thing on my mind about this. Is this injured turtle definitely a male? Plastron looks kind of girlish. Are the front claws long?

 

[KarenSoCal]

One more thing on my mind about this. Is this injured turtle definitely a male? Plastron looks kind of girlish. Are the front claws long?

She says yes, absolutely he's male.

 

[zovick]

Thank you, Bill. I'll look more carefully at his feet and tail.
Is there anything we can do to help his shell heal? Or since he's alone, just let nature heal him? Those injured places are painful to him.

I would say the best treatment is to separate the two turtles and simply let nature take care of healing the shell.

 

[KarenSoCal]

I would say the best treatment is to separate the two turtles and simply let nature take care of healing the shell.

That's exactly what she did. He has his own tank, and nobody will be hurting him again. My friend feels awful that it got this far without her noticing.
BTW, there is damage to his hind feet, and a toe is missing. You were right on with that.
Thanks for your help!

 

[Sue Ann]

I know absolutely nothing about turtles, so will go by what you "turt" folks think.

My friend has 2 RES, both over 7 years old, and both male. For the past 3 months or so, they have lived together in a stock tank...I don't know how many gallons it holds. I will guess that it's about 3' x 2' or a little bigger. All has seemed fine, with both eating and doing turtle things. They are able to get completely out of the water when desired.

My friend says one is an "Eastern" RES, and one is a "Western" RES.

The other day, when picked up, the "Eastern" turtle has these marks on him. We have wondered if this is some type of fungal shell rot, or a bacterial infection. Both turtles have been together, so the water doesn't seem to be an issue. The only thought we had was maybe the water gets too warm for the Eastern, since natively the water wouldn't reach the extreme heat that we have here in the low desert.

Then, upon closer inspection, I thought that possibly he is being chewed by the other turtle, but I don't know if this is an issue with turtles. The edge of the carapace looks gnawed, with pink areas in the center of the damage. It looks raw and is tender when touched. There is no injury to the plastron at all, and nothing above the edges on the carapace.

Here are pictures...what does everyone think, and how should we treat it? The turtles can be kept separately if necessary, but together would be ideal for their keeper. He was walking on gritty concrete, so you can see that on his plastron.

View attachment 345545

View attachment 345546

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Yes being chewed. This is painful and can lead to infection. Separate them, NOW!