Urgent Care :: My turtle does a weird quick "fanning" of claws in

[dana1970]

My turtle has been doing this weird fanning like motion of the fron claws in the face of the other RES? What is it doing, is it ok/normal? It is like watching the dancing RES picture!

[curiousmonkey]

mine is doing this too. i posted this question a few hours ago and only one person responded. he said that he thinks it is a matting thing. and that was my first guess also. good luck

[Angella]

If you read through some of the general care topics, there is a lot of info on that sort of thing. I'm no expert (new turtle mommy), but from what I've read so far it IS primarily a mating thing, but may be a sign of agression if you have too many turtles in too small a space. It is perfectly normal behaviour though, so don't worry!

[sonyj]

Angella is correct. It is very normal behavior for a turtle. It can be a mating dance or a sign of aggression or a territorial issue if the tank is too small.

Try reading the main site: www.redearslider.com to help answer some basic questions regarding your turtles. It has wonderful info. Also the search button at the top of the forum is great for researching certain topics with "key words". It's a little more in depth and you have to search for what you want to know, but you will uncover a lot of good info that way.

[TinySlider2]

Were they doing this.



Our little guys were doing that too. For them to be so young, I thought it was over territory.

[dana1970]

Yes it is like the above picture, he doesn't seem to be aggressive or anything when he/she does it, I was just wondering what the heck it is doing...

[JessicaTS]

Strange thought, but could it a sign of communication? Other than mating and agression

[TinySlider2]

Yeah that is what I thought. They never were aggressive to one another.

[staman]

The male RES will rub his claws on the face of the female to initiate mating. Part of the ole mating dance. If it was over territory youd probably see a lot more biting type injuries. Whats so cool is the turtles you have are exactly like mine. One is bigger with a darker shell and the smaller has a light green shell. You could witness a mating...so cool

[vieniebebe]

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!My turtle is doing this same shaky thing with me.I really don't want to be my turtle's love interest.HELP!!!!

[vieniebebe]

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!My turtle is doing this same shaky thing with me.I really don't want to be my turtle's love interest.HELP!!!!

[marisa]

Don't worry. They can change their objects of affection/fascination fairly quickly.