My turtle took two bites out of the baby turtle

[crinn]

I have a five year old red eared slider and someone found a baby yellow/orange bellied in a parking lot and brought it to me. I had them together some but they seemed disinterested. Today they were together (unsupervised) for a while and the big one took two bites out of the side of the baby's shell. It seems fine and is kinda staying out of the water. Should I do something else and are they needing to be apart forever? I will try to attach a pic. thanks

[turtlegirl]

First of all, well done for adopting the poor lost or abandoned baby turtle.

Excessive basking often indicates a turtle is afraid and being bullied.Little one is staying out of the water because it is afraid and will probably be bullied so it may not get enough food either. Turtles don't need friends as they live alone in the wild,not in pairs or families. Big ones should never share a tank with little ones either.

Separate them IMMEDIATELY as the big one could kill the little one. Baby turtles should never be housed with adults who may consider them as food.If you don't have a tank use a plastic crate with heater and filter for the little one till it grows bigger. EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SPARE FILTER, SEPARATE THEM NOW AND CHANGE WATER EVERY 2 DAYS.