Map Turtle question??

[benturner89]

Hey people!

After feeling sorry for a little map that had been returned to the pet shop a few weeks ago, me and the girlfriend decided to take him/her (still unsure :S but thinking more female) home to live with our others as they have plenty of room. Unfortunately my painted turtle has become a little ill with an infection, She has been to the vets and we are administering medication, but the problem is the map is now getting a little aggressive towards her. We have separated her now, but is the map only becoming aggressive as my painted is weak, or is she just coming out of her shell?? I didn't see any aggression when my painted was well, and never any towards my cooter and the cross breed slider.. I'm hoping the map can return once the painted is over her illness, or is this unlikely??

Regards, and sorry for the unusual silly questions, Ben 😃

[wayne020668]

hi Ben, no question is silly on this site mate, we try to help anyone with personal experience that simply asks no matter how silly they seem so please don't worry... we tend to see this a lot here at turtle rescue and I'm sure its not down to the illness, i have seen other turtles even helping a sick or injured one even bringing them food etc as i study the habits of these wonderful animals. this could well be a male trying to exert himself in the tank with the female or even trying to defend the space he has claimed, when you add this turtle back try removing all the turtles for a while in a plastic box around half hour should do it and in the mean time rearrange the tank moving rocks / plants / basking area if poss etc, the reason for this is when you put all the turtles back they all have to start from scratch finding their space and this usually works just fine, but if this is a case of simply bullying then we will have step it up a gear but this is well worth trying first...

hope this helps, regards Wayne.

[turtlegirl]

Difficult to say as all turtles have different temperament and characters, like humans. Could be the map is trying to assert itself in the pecking order as a newcomer and naturally picked on the weakest sick turtle to bully. Try separating the sick turtle t give it a chance to recover free from stress and leave the map in with the rest. If the map continues to attack or bully other turtles then I'm afraid it iwll be a struggle to get it used to community life. Might be worth while asking the pet shop why the map was returned -maybe it was attacking other turtles.
I currently have a slider in solitary confinement because he decided to viciously attack his tank mates after living peacefully with them for 6 months and bit 3 turtles. Also recently had to put my male map in with my musks because he was constantly chasing and biting one of my female maps. Strangely he left the other female alone. Maybe turtles like human bullies tend to pick on a victim.

[benturner89]

Thanks guys, he is the smallest of them all! The painted is weak the moment but also a bit smaller than the other two, so
I guess easy pickings to exert himself. We've stuck him in with the pink belly that kept harrassing all females, originally we got him to go in that tank thinking he was male, until the pink belly tried gripping the map for a quickie, hence the change of mind of the sex of the map lol! He has been in the tank for about a month and began extremely shy! But like Wayne says we'll see if he or her gets on once oopsie the painted is better

While I'm on here, generally how long does a turtle take to get over an infection?