A few weeks ago I decided to give cohabitation another chance. I kept a very close eye on Charlie and Charlotte for the first few hours, then the first few days, after which I became confident that they are okay with each other’s presence. There were no signs of aggression – they were eating, basking, and swimming together peacefully.
This was true until a couple of nights ago when I came home from work to discover that Charlotte was chasing Charlie around the tank like a mad-turtle and biting him whenever she got the chance. I cannot say that I was surprised by the turn of events because, as any RES owner could tell you, these types of turtles are known to be aggressive to other tank mates if kept in a relatively small, closed environment. It seemed to me that male red ear sliders are most often the ones who harass the females, but in my case it seems to be the opposite.
Charlie is now in a temporary (rather small) container until I can find the time to set up his tank again. I think Charlotte is the happiest of the two since she got her home all to herself again.
