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Tonight i got even closer to my turtles. i was actually petting them. they were in the water and i was rubbing on top of their heads. they werent even freaked out. it shows that these animals were even better than we thought they could be.

funky

mine love to get their chins rubbed. They really are very sweet critters

My RES likes his chin and neck rubbed. He will not, however, stand for having the top of his head rubbed, and is touchy about having me run my fingers over his carapace (but not plastron), no doubt because I'm going to wipe it down and he can't see what's going on.

Vien likes when I do that do,it's just her head is so tiny,I'm afraid to hurt her.

I'm still kind of scared to touch Petri's head. I guess b/c I've never really had turtles or snakes or lizards before. It's a lot different than petting dogs and cats.

My turtle too love it(shows no sign of struggling) when I pet under his mouth and neck area, he can't stand it when I touch right on top his head(area between two eyes) and his nose. Sometimes my turtle would even let me rub his little paws(but never leg)

my trurts love being loved all over. i will just stick my hand in the water and they come up and grab on to my hand with their feet. voltamort loves having me scratch her back. as long as they are in the water, i can do anything to or with them, but take them out of the water and not so nice! sometimes i just look in the water from the top of the tank and they will come to the surface and stare at me. i love my babes!
anybody have any ideas about play toys for turts? i have large marble chips on the bottom of the tank that they move around, playing or looking for shrimp, but i would like to have something that they can play with. would they get bored swimming all the time with no other activities?
anybody have any turt toys?

Petri likes to dig and move rocks. Esp. when I've dropped some carrot bits into his tank. He swims in the filter current and climbs around in his plastic plant. I play with him by making him chase pellets or lettuce around the tank.

Pineapple(my turtle) likes to bite bubbles from the filter current(so funny when he does it), and sometimes he'll end up having to many bubbles on his face so he takes his small paw and tries to get it off...so cute

I also put a mirror in front of him sometimes and he would walked up to it, looking at it for a while and start moving his mouth real fast as if he's talking to his 'friend', have any of you seen them behave like that? what does it mean when they move their mouth so fast?

If I want my RES to stay in one place for any length of time (while I'm cleaning the tank, for example), I put a mirror in front of him. He'll pace the length of it eyeing the other turtle (he sometimes will stick his head around the back as if he's looking for the turtle). He'll stare at his image and "puff himself up" (stand on his four feet as high as he can), flutter at his image, and yes, I have noticed the mouth movement. He has occasionally made a like of grinding sound while doing it, and I think it's a warning to the other "turtle" to back off.

I have found out just recently that my turtles love to chase the little lazer dot that I bought for my cats. Is this safe? because it sure is funny to watch. I was wondering if anybody has outside of the tank play-time? My turtles are only a year old and pretty small so I don't know if there is something enjoyable I can do for them outside of their tank or if it would just be too stressful.

There is really no need for a turtle to have out of the tank play time. You can take them outside if it sunny and warm enough so that they can get a good dose of UVB. It is very stressful for them to be out of their environment. If you do take them outside, you MUST MUST MUST keep a close eye on them if you let them walk around, never leave them unattended, many turtles have gotten lost that way. You can also put them in a container with a basking area and a shade area so they can get out of the sun if they wish. You'll also need to make it escape and predator proof.

I'm not too sure about that laser light. I'm wondering if it may be harmful to their eyes. I know it is for humans.