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I’ve got a rescued 2-1/4” long RES…I do not know the exact age but the person whom I adopted it from said she bought it about 1 year ago and she thinks it was already 1.5 – 2” long when she got it (she kept it in a death-bowl and in the previous winter she said it did not eat much). Now it has all its needs taken care of.

Next to my 10-gallon tank I have a new 37-gallon tank with a hood and light waiting to be set up. This evening I placed the tank hood and lamp on the 10-gallon tank to see how it would look. The lamp must have changed the reflection inside the tank because Mr. T started acting in a peculiar manner I have never seen.

He looked like he was making oblique contrapposto poses near the glass…standing on one leg and turning his body one way and his head the other way ... like a fashion model posing for a camera. Then he stopped the posing and swimming horizontally with his face pressed against the tank glass, he stretched his front legs before him on either side of his head and made the classic male mating behavior of vibrating his claws for a few seconds. He did the vibrating claw thing a dozen+ times…every few minutes he swam to the glass, his body horizontal, and would vibrate his claws in front of him.

Is this behavior common in instances other than mating?

At this young age (I assume he cannot be sexually mature being so small) does this reveal any indication of gender? Do females ever do the claw vibrating?
Can I assume he is a male?
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Mr. T could be either male or female... you will not be able to tell until he/she is 4 to 4-1/2 inches... This is a natural thing that turtles do... Yes it is a sign of mating but it is also a terriotiral sign too... most likly your turtle sees his reflection in the glass... Yes both males and females do this...

I put a mirror against the glass of my males tank and he does the same thing... he will also stare at himself for long periods of time... I think it is funny.

Thanks for the explanation Boogerbutt02.

My Zeke does something similar...but I think it's more of an attention getting thing. He likes his reflection in the tank. Usually you can't tell their sex until they are at least 4 inches long.