Other Turtle Discussion :: Strange Turtle Dance

[Davey]

We've had our turtle Davey for about 1.5 years now and he has begun to do a strange dance as if he is chasing his tail like a dog. It doesn't appear to be irregular swimming because when we walk up to him he just swims up to us and begs for food. What gives?

[sonyj]

What kind of set-up does Davey have and how big is he(shell length from tip to tip not including curve)?

If there's no irregular or lop-sided swimming involved he could just be playing, but I've not heard of any turtle doing this, but they can do some pretty cute/silly things. Maybe someone else can shed a little more light on the matter for you.

[steve]

How much water is he in and how often is he doing this spinning thing?

[jenaero]

Is he swimming backwards? Mine do that from time to time.

[Davey]

well he's in a 20 gallon tank and he's about 4 inches in shell length. the tank is filled about 17 gallons. he did it again today.

[marisa]

He hadn't done it since you first posted about it (a week ago)?

[Davey]

I catch him doing it about once a week. He might do it more. Again there is no unordinary swimming, it just seems that he likes to chase his tail.