General Care Discussion

She's been ours since she was a hatchling. This behaviour has started in the last two weeks. She eats, basks, and takes long breaths, but these are only pitstops before going back to frantically scratching to get against the glass. Night and day. There is ample space, and she has a female partner who has also been there since hatchling. (same day introduction) They have a basking area where they both can fit well, they can swim fully submersed, and have those uv lights on both ends (the one away from the basking area shuts off at night) I'm starting to get very nervous. She acts like she's running from something. Her tank mate is oblivious to this. If anything, she's losing sleep from constantly being bounced into. Any advice would be welcome.

Is she responsive to you when she's doing this? Could be just excessive begging or she could be gravid. Another possibility is harassment/fighting but that would be more obvious to pickup.

steve wrote:Is she responsive to you when she's doing this? Could be just excessive begging or she could be gravid. Another possibility is harassment/fighting but that would be more obvious to pickup.

Thank you so much for responding. Once before one of the girls had layed several eggs, and it was a mystery who it was...lol We just woke up one morning and there was eggs in the back of the basking area! I don't recall if there were any thing like this, as it was seveal years ago. When she does this behaviour, I'll often (I know, it's silly) whisper to her through the tank and put my hand up against it. I've offered her food several times during her 'swim spree' and she's not interested. We feed them maybe 3 times a week. Up to this point we've never taken them out just for exercise, only for tank cleaning. So now, we bought a baby pool and figured maybe she was bored. We thought the sun might be good, and it would give them something to fiddle with.

If she's not interested in food, then I would lean towards her being gravid. Do you want to try to feel for eggs?

steve wrote:If she's not interested in food, then I would lean towards her being gravid. Do you want to try to feel for eggs?

She's not a big fan of human touch, never has been...lol. When it's necessary to pick her up, i do so from the back after wrapping a towel around her hands and feet. Can i feel through the towel? Her towel is pretty thin.

One way is to have them walk around and follow them. When they stop and have their leg stretched out, go for the feel

General Care Discussion :: 7 YO female RES frantically swimming against glass.

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