General Care Discussion :: Itchy shell??

[Mandie55]

One of my turtles has been rubbing his back (top of his shell) on the slope of the dock.... could he just be trying to get a shedding scute off? Also, when they are on the dock basking they bite at their front legs. They don't cause injuries or anything, they just snap at them. It's weird. Any ideas??

[Turtlebiz]

i'm not too sure about the rubbing, but how many turtles do u have together? are they biting eachother's legs or their own legs? i would separate them ASAP because it sounds like there is some aggression going on.

[SpotsMama]

Turtles do rub against rough surfaces when they are trying to shed scutes. They'll rub against decorations in the tank, sometimes rather vigorously. You can hear the clanking in the next room. Sometimes a turtle with a good relationship to his/her keeper will rub his back against the keeper's fingernails.

[PcBuilder14]

Mine did that a few months back against his log and, this is when I had rocks in the bottom of the tank, he was rubbing so much that he was moving the log all over the place.

[darbys]

Sorry to bump this and if it has already been discussed. I searched and couldn't find it.

We have two RES that are about three inches and two and a half inches. We found both of them in our yard, about two weeks apart. So they have been together for a few months. They were in a tank that was too small, and we upgraded to a 55 gallon. Anyway, in the small tank, they were rubbing their shells against each other. The pet store guy told us they were probably doing that because the tank was too small. They have been in the new tank for five days, and the shell rubbing/scratching seems to be the same.

Is this aggression? Are they trying to mate (they are too small to know the sexes)? Do I need to seperate them? I thought I was doing a good thing having them together.

We haven't seen any biting. But with this rubbing, they do push each other off the dock.

TIA for your help!

[steve]

Hi Darbys, how big is the dock? Do they do it only on the dock? It could be that they are jockeying for the warmest spot.

[darbys]

Thanks for the help, Steve.

I have a medium sized dock, large enough for both of them, and a small dock that will barely hold one. They seem to "fight" over either... where one is, that is exactly where the other wants to be.

However, I am noticing that they aren't basking like they did in the smaller tank, and am starting to think we need higher basking temp.

Is biting the main form of aggression? What else would I see? Having to seperate them is my biggest fear/concern at the moment.

[steve]

It does sound like they want the warmest area, or they are being competitive. A larger basking area doesn't hurt either.

Aggression will likely be displayed as biting/chasing and can occur in and out of the water.

[Mandie55]

No they arer just biting their own arms .... I think they are just trying to get shedding skin off.... what do you think? That's what I figured for the rubbing too... because they are shedding scutes.

[fultonh]

yeah my turtles do the biting to on their arms and its usually when they are shedding ...if you watch them really close you'll see them taking the skin off...my turtles do this all the time...or they might just be itchy...i wouldn't worry about it unless they accidentally bite themselves too hard, but there not that silly. Also the rubbing is for shedding there scutes.