General Care Discussion :: Frankie's shell gets itchy after a water change :P

[BullDog]

I've noticed after I do a watch change, Frankie goes and scratches her shell for a few minutes.
Just found this interesting, and was wondering if anyone else's turts seem to get itchy after a WC

She usually scratches her shell on the plastic cross bar at the top of the tank, since the ramp is just so that she can reach it. She likes the feeling of me scratching it, but when she realizes it's me she gets freaked out


Also, since I haven't posted in a while, here are a couple of quick pics of my two I took tonight
Frankie:


Ralph:

[Joao]

Hmmm I never really payed too much attention after water changes to know. Ill keep an eye out now, but Homie scratches himself all the time anyway ahah.

In his 20 gallon he would move all the rocks from under the internal filter... reverse into it, and rub his butt on the filter like it was putting him through college...

[theartbook35]

All three of my turtles tend to scratch after water changes. I think it's their way of marking territory, or something along those lines.

I've noticed to that, Sadie tends to do this the most, and we let her walk around the apartment while we clean her tank. She is getting ready to shed. Is Frankie out of water too when you do water changes? I wonder if being in open makes their shells itchy...

[BullDog]

Hmm, marking the territory is in interesting theory! I used to have to take Frankie out when I did a water change because she hated it. But these days I've got her associate water changes with a treat, so I usually leave her in the water.