Photo Gallery :: Steve check out the weirdness O.O

[Moose]

So idk if you have seen the mating ritual of an African side neck but it looks pretty damn drastic, a couple months back Herman had buster or Eugene locked into that grip and was violently rocking back and forth! After that the RES didn't bother Herman anymore. Well now my RES are doing their little mating ritual fanning type thing and my ASN just hovers over them and kind of grips the other one O.O what do you think is going on? Is my ASN confused?

[steve]

I think they'e just trying to be dominant or territorial but yeah, that would freak me out too

[Moose]

Right! My sister was pretty freaked out lol they aren't nipping or biting each other just being weird I guess. They're in that temporary setup for another two weeks until I fly home to get them a bigger tank I just need them to bare with me here, lol but you know turtles never get sick or start to not bond well the moment at a good time always the most inconvenient lol gotta love them!

[Mo Milazzo]

Lol, I just died reading this...Are ASN hard to keep? I've been trying to think about what turtle I'd like to add to my family.

[Moose]

Lol heck no! My Herman is dead friendly! Lol and I guess this was her display of dominance saying that she runs this tank lol I've heard ppl say that ASN are very aggressive and you have to be careful with them but I've had her for almost 3years now and she's about 5.5inches and I never worry about her at all! She's sweet<3 guess I lucked out with that one.

[justatwinturbo]

In my experience, its not common for a female west african brown mud turtle, such as yours, to mount or show dominance. It is likely to be a male, but at 5.5" they can be difficult to sex. Still quite a bit of growing to do. Keep a good eye out, during mating attempts, males can inflict some nasty wounds on the necks of other turtles. In general, this is a placid species. The species that can be aggressive is pelomedusa subrufa (african helmeted). They are the only known species (that I'm aware) that has been documented to hunt in packs. They have been known to kill, and consume turtles larger than they are. You can find videos on youtube of them hunting birds, its quite interesting.

[devilduck]

A pack hunting bird eating turtle?! This I have to see!

[justatwinturbo]

Enjoy =) not very graphic, but if you're a lover of birds, be warned. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0WpTAEixZl ... WpTAEixZlo

[sweety10189110]

Oh my, that is crazy, interesting and just kinda funny all at the same time.

[Moose]

:O ! That was intense!!!