General Care Discussion :: RES 8 months old

[getzapped]

Hello everyone! The only posts i have made were when my 2 RES were a few weeks old. However the information that I continually gather from these forums have provided me with great information.
This is a behavioral question so I will try to provide as much information as possible.
Anyway, I started with the 2 RES in a 20 gallon knowing that I would have to transplant them into a larger tank. So I set up my 100gal tank and have now relocated them.
I am using 1 home made filter for solids and one purchased "turtle" filter. Their is constant aeration in the tank and circulation via power head. (i apologize for no pics my camera died.)
No substrate, just a few pieces of driftwood

water 77 degrees
basking platform 88 degrees (other platform is non-heated)
UVA/B lamp above basking platform

They eat well. They eat a variety of well... just about anything you put in the tank. Fruit vegetables, pellets, sticks.

RES #1 is outgrowing the other a large margin, it measures 2.5"
RES #2 is 1.75"
My understanding is that there is no way to sex them at this young of an age??
The larger of the 2 began poking and pecking and the smaller, not really biting. Just nudging around.
That is when i decided to get the big tank up and running.

They have been in the tank for a day and i haven't noticed anymore of the bullying behavior, instead the larger one is performing the mating dance to the smaller one. It keeps trying to position itself in front of the smaller one and extends and quivers its front paws. I am not sure why this is happenning in the large tank and not in the small.
Any Ideas??

Also I would like some ideas as to what i could use to float around the top of the tank for a supplemental platform for resting? (plastic lillypad of something)

Thanks in advance!!

[Love of Animals]

At that size it's not actually a mating dance it's the start of aggression. With a tank that size and the turtles that small with aggression already starting you may have to put a divider in the tank. Or you can try to put lots of decorations and plants in as a sight break for now. Turtles grow at different rates but make sure each turtle is getting their fair share of food.

[getzapped]

They aren't aggressive when I feed them. They both eat well. They bask on top of each other and swim near each other. They sure don't act like turtles that dislike each other.

[sflemin2]

Mine bit the other ones tail off at that age. How long have they been in the new tank? They may need to establish the dominance if they havent been there long (or at least thats what I have noticed with mine)