Other Turtle Discussion :: unusual activities

[Goofy33]

I have two turtles that were born together. Not too soon I introduced another turtle. Eventually I found out that the two original turtles are male (long nails and their black thing), the new turtle is female. The three turtles are 3 years old now. The two male turtles are doing the mating dance and going on top of each other quite frequently. The female tries to do the dance to one of the boys, but always get rejected.

Is this normal behavior for turtles? Should I isolate them?
Does females initiate the dance?
Why are the two males doing that?

Thank you ahead of time.

[steve]

They might be fluttering to each other as a territorial warning. They will aggressively bite each other too. Are you sure you correctly ID their genders? In your current situation, you are looking at separation which will be costly.

[Goofy33]

I have seen them do the dances since they were 1 year old. I'm pretty sure I identified them correctly. I always thought one of them was a girl until his nail and tail grew long.

Both turtles are roughly 4 in SCL
0.75 in long fingernails
1.75 in long tail
Concave belly
Pointy nose
Most important is that I saw their black thing

I thought it was territorial activities, but they never try to bite or hurt each other. They share everything like best buddies. I have a wooden log for them and the two boys always sleep in the cave while the girl sleeps outside. I love their behaviors until one of them climbed behind the other after the dance and start whipping his tail around.

Is this normal behavior for confined turtles? Are they just sexually confused? Should they be isolated to correct these behaviors?

[steve]

I don't think they're confused, though there will be issues if both are males. Isolation might work for a short period, though it's not really a solution.