General Care Discussion

Hi, I have a 5 year old male RES and he just lost his female RES that he grew up with. I recently adopted a 2-3 year old male RES and introduced them. My 5 year old, however, actually did the mating claw dance and even mounted the new male RES. My older RES is still trying to mate him even though he has to know by now that the younger one is a male too. Is this more of a dominance thing? Will my older RES eventually chill out on the mating thing? They are in an outside pond that is large and both male sliders are no bigger than 5 inches in carapace length. Any information would be appreciated. I can't find anything about this online.

The claw dance is called fluttering and it could also be a sign of them becoming territorial. How big is the pond?

The pond is about 8 feet in diameter with 2 feet all around it of dirt/grass area. At the deepest end, it is about 3-4 feet deep and then it gets shallower as it slopes to the bank of dirt. What happened was I put the younger, new male turtle onto the dry portion of the pond and my older male turtle met him up there and looked him over, then my new turtle made his way into the water and my old turtle followed. When they didn't come up after about 3-4 minutes of being under the water, I went into the pond and felt around and found them under a log that I have in there. I had to then take them out (I believe my older turtle had scared the new turtle under the log and wasn't letting him leave) and I then put them together in my kiddie pool so as to keep an eye on them. That's when I noticed the fluttering behavior from my older turtle (I know it well since he did it all the time on the female turtle I had) and then he mounted the new turtle and the new turtle let him do this. I believe my older turtle actually protruded his penis and, on realizing that the new turtle was a male, dismounted the new turtle and had to try and put his penis back in his vent. However, my older male turtle is still trying to make fluttering motions towards the new turtle and the new turtle cannot fully investigate my old turtle since my old turtle keeps fluttering in his face and giving him a major stare down, with his head cocked all the way to the side in order to look at the new turtle when they are side by side. I let them hang out together for about an hour, then I separated them for the night. I was going to put them together again today for a bit in the kiddie pool and see if my older turtle lets up on the new guy. I think the new guy just needs to get some confidence around my old turtle. The new turtle came from a pet shop and was housed in a tank with 2 other males that were the same size and age and one female that was also the same size and age. However, my older turtle has never been around any other turtle except my previous female whom he had grown up with. I am afraid to put them together in the pond since it is deep and I cannot see down into the deep end. Is it better to try and let them figure out their territory? I believe the pond is big enough that they can both enjoy it without being in conflict. They are both not that big. But my old turtle just won't let up on the new guy. However, my old turtle has not tried to bite or hurt the new turtle; he just keeps trying to mate with him, or so it seems. Sorry for the extreme detailed description, but I just wanted you to know all of the details in order to better assist me. Thank you in advance!

You can see how it goes, but it's hard to predict what will happen. In most cases, they will need to be separated. I'm not sure what triggers aggression or territorial behavior, but it does not seem to be something that is controllable.

Okay, thank you very much for your help. I just wanted to see if the male on male mating thing was common or not. Hopefully all will go well.

Yeah, it's a tough situation. I hope it'll go well too.

General Care Discussion :: male RES trying to mate with another male RES

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