General Care Discussion :: Thrashing Turtle

[surfmaniac13]

I have a RES that I have had for almost 5 years now. Not sure if it is a male or female since I was not told at the time of purchase but based on an overall lack of egg laying I am assuming it is a male.

Recently (last two weeks or so) my turtle has taken to thrashing in the tank. It does it day and night and whether I have the white UVB light on or the red IR light. Nothing seems to stop it.

I have obviously changed the tank situation several times over the last few years but for the last several months nothing has changed in the tank and the turtle seemed very content for a long time. The water is at 80 degrees as I have seen recommended. It has a warm and dry basking area. The water is filtered and the turtle is fed every other day.

Once my turtle started freaking out like this I tried several things. I dropped the water temp several degrees. I raised it several degrees. I lowered the heat lamps (closer to the tank so they would be warmer) and I raised them (cooler). Nothing seems to help.

Can anyone give me another idea on what might be wrong with my turtle? It tears apart its tank almost daily and I am constantly reconstructing filters and basking platforms and such. Please help.

[steve]

Females kept alone typically do not lay eggs. At 5 years, you should be able to visually ID the sex, easiest way... long claws = male. Thrashing is usually a sign of a gravid female wanting to get out to lay eggs. Or it could just be that your turtle is just destructive. I would check to see if it's female or not, then feel for eggs if it is a she.

[surfmaniac13]

Leonardo definitely has long claws so that would confirm he is a male. I have been on the wrong end of them a couple times on accident. I just dont understand why he would suddently have gotten destructive. He has never had a problem with it in the past. For the past six months he has spent his time either peacefully swimming around the tank or peacefully basking on his ledge. It also seems like he is trying to escape during the thrashing because he always does it up against the glass as if he is trying to swim through the glass.

[steve]

I guess males tend to be more aggressive as they get older. Mine would bite everything and still does. His tank is mostly bare because he's chipped his beak on a couple of occasions.