redearslider.com

Hi all! This is my first post on this site so bear with me. I have a 13 yr old slider and suddenly in the last week or so he has become more hyper than we have ever seen him. All day he has been climbing on his rock, almost falling off of it and falling into the sides of the tank (the rock is next to the glass) and then immediately turning around and sliding off. We haven't seen him bask much because he just climbs up and jumps off.
The behavior started after we came back from a short 2 day trip so we thought he just wanted attention but even when we sit right next to him all day he still goes crazy. We tried giving him extra food too thinking he was begging but he doesn't calm down after that either. There is a rock decoration in the shape of a turtle that he often flirts with so my best guess is mating season but we've had him for his whole life and he has never done this. He has always been a pretty calm guy so this behavior is really worrying us. I know lethargy is often a sign of illness but could extreme hyperactivity be a sign of something? Has anyone else experienced this?

As a side note I've also been able to hear him breathe more but we also recently moved and his tank is much closer to us now, and with all the swimming and jumping I think he is breathing harder. Still thought it might be important to include.

Are you sure you have a male? Some of it sounds like a female that is gravid. How big is the tank? Do you ever take him out? The heavy breathing might just be from the extra exertion.

We're sure he's male. He's got the long nails and little tail, and he grew much slower than his sister when he was little. His tank is definitely too small, I'm not sure how many gallons, but he's had the same one for a while. We don't take him out, though we probably should. He really doesn't like being picked up though.

Males have bigger tails. Has anything else changes? Is there a feeding schedule?