General Care Discussion :: What is my turtle doing?puts hands on head

[StevenAkaProek]

I have 2 turtles. They are both the same age. One of them has grown double the size as the other one. The bigger one loves to follow the small one around until it gets in front of his face. He then puts his hands to his own face and moves his fingers/nails around. It looks like he/she might be trying to intimate him or scare him?

Then again they bask together like 2 love birds

so I dunno what's going on

anyone else experience this?

maybe this is common?
something like this

[TheComputerGremlin]

What you are seeing is called fluttering. Search the forums for it.

Fluttering occurs basically for one of two reasons:

1) The first sign of aggression. As you mentioned, it seems like the one is trying to intimidate the other. Just because there are times of peace doesn't mean that in an instant, one will kill or severely injure the other. When you start to see fluttering, it's generally time to separate the two permanently into two separate tanks. Fluttering can also occur when a tank is too small and there is a competition for resources. How big is your tank and your turtles?

2) The second reason is mating. If you have a male and a female, the male will often harass the female into mating. Once the female tires of his moves, she will attack and injure/kill him. You didn't mention genders, but that one of the turtles is twice as big as the other suggests a female and male pair. If mating occurs, you will have to deal with destroying the eggs or raising dozens and dozens and dozens of turtles. It is best to either separate male/female pairs or destroy the eggs. If you cannot deal with destroying the eggs, you should separate them because RES are overpopulated and it is actually illegal in a number of states and locations to allow the eggs to come to term.

Can you describe your turtles and tank better? Pictures of the front nails of each turtle and the underside of the tail would be helpful in sexing them.

[StevenAkaProek]

ohh is see

I will post pics pics

one of them is 2 inches

and the other one is about 1 1/2 inches

they are still small

I have them in a 20 gallon tank

I know about the 10 gallons per inch and I will upgrade them, but now it looks like I might have to separate them

Only times this happens is when they are searching for food. So it might be for resources.

I will post those pics very soon

thanks!

[megcornell]

The fact that one is growing faster that the other usually means he's the dominant one and that he's (or she's) hogging the food. Try feeding them separately to let the smaller one get more food and to alleviate any feeding-time aggression issues.

However, you're correct that if the issues continue they'll need to be upgraded to separate tanks.

[dtarver]

Yeah..I experienced the exact same thing. I have one male and one female. The female is being aggressive and you should separate them. She could hurt (kill) him. I now keep mine separate. Turtles are not social animals and perfer their own space. i keep my little guy in a 10 gallon tank and the bigger girl in a 40 gallon long.

I have 2 turtles. They are both the same age. One of them has grown double the size as the other one. The bigger one loves to follow the small one around until it gets in front of his face. He then puts his hands to his own face and moves his fingers/nails around. It looks like he/she might be trying to intimate him or scare him?

Then again they bask together like 2 love birds

[TheComputerGremlin]

Being that they are so small, I would say mating isn't a possibility just yet. You can also not really sex them until they are about 4", so although we would love pictures now, I guess they won't be of much use. Sometimes you can sort of tell with the tail earlier than normal, and some turtle's claws start growing early too.

[Arisu]

I think you should separate them before they get feisty on each other.

[bigG]

My 7 inch female and 4 inch male quite often flirt and flutter. I have often seen them do the ritual after I first turn on the light in the morning. And they may perform the fluttering throughout the day. They have shown no aggression toward each other. They share the basking float. One will bask for a period of time and then cool off in the water. The other will climb up and bask. In fact, I seen both share the float at the same time.

[Doc_Moore_J]

I have two males, and one grew at an alarming rate as compared to the other. They are buddies and sleep, baske, and hang out together, but I feed them separately to avoid aggression. The little guy just dont have much of an appetite.