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i put this metal like towel holder in the tank, its stuck to the side with the suction cups. its about 5 inches wide and he likes hanging on to it and swimming around it so i just left it in there. well squirt started doing the hand waving deal infront of it and then caresses it with his face and sometimes starts taking bites (he doesnt bite the ring, it just looks like hes gonna). i think he can see his reflection.

the thing is that i also have a mirror in there and hes always looking at himself but he never does the hand thing to the mirror. I also recently (actually just 3 days ago) noticed my turtle was fanning.

so my question is does my turlte need some (temporary) female contact?? Or should i remove the metal thing? Ive had him for a year and a half; when i got him he was 1 1/2 incles long so he cant possibly be that much older.

The only thing I can think that might be a problem with the metal in the tank is to watch for rust which you don't want in the tank.

Him seeing his reflection does not neccessarily mean he's needing a companion. Turtles are solitary creatures in the wild and when owning more than one in captivity you have to watch for signs of aggression and possibly separate them into two set-ups. So I personally wouldn't recommend getting another turtle for this reason. Now if you have unlimited resources and can provide each of the turtles with the correct size habitat both now and when they are older, then getting another turtle wouldn't be bad. But really turtles don't need friends the way we as humans think of friends.