Will an elder Western painted turtle be aggressive towards a hatchling?
We found a hatchling Western painted turtle a few days ago - no idea how he got to the doorstep since the closest water is several miles away, not to mention I read they aren’t supposed to hatch until August?? Anyway, I am very sadly equipped for taking care of a turtle, I got him hatchling pellets which he is eating like a pig, he has also eaten two ghost shrimp now and killed a third but left it alone afterwards ( Ugh )
On to the actual question, a friend of mine has an 18 or 19 year old Western painted, he has no idea of the *** but has had it since it was a baby. Will the elder turtle be aggressive and or hurt the hatchling if we put them together? Does the answer to that question change depending on their ***?
Also- should I be feeding him as much as he wants or limiting him?? I have been putting in 5 or 6 pellets every few hours and he *devours* them :/
I’m not sure if you can tell the *** of a turtle when they are this young, but here are a couple shots of him in case you can! ( Plus he’s adorable) 
Any help is appreciated!
Ok- so apparently I cant link pictures? So I guess I can email them if anyone thinks they may be able to tell?
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December 17th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
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i wouldnt recommend it , the size difference is too great , and you do not know the ***. 2 males would be a no go
December 19th, 2010 at 11:34 am
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I wouldn’t do it. Especially because you dont know the *** of the two little dudes. As for feeding, dont go overboard, but turtles have a pretty good idea of when they’ve had enough, and feeding a baby whatever he will eat is not necessarily a bad thing. But, I wouldn’t just feed him pellets. Give him some vegetation too!!!
December 22nd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
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I have had mixed success with housing small turtles with larger counterparts. If the turtle is bigger than 4 if you can send me a few pictures I can probably *** it for you.
But with my painteds they would torment a smaller turtle and that has been my experience with most painteds especially westerns.
I would limit the feeding only letting him eat once a day as much as he can eat in 5 minutes. Too much can cause him to grow too fast resulting in pyramiding with is really really bad.
If you need help on a proper setup, feeding, lighting or anything like that you can email me through my YA profile. (my first response would be to put him back where you found him but since he is on your doorstep I am not sure if you could find where he originated from)
I run a small turtle/reptile rescue from my home so I am more than happy to help you with the care, etc.