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One of my turts (about 2.5 inches) was up on his ATBA and was grinding his shell on the wall and thermometer in the pretty intensely. It was really loud. It was like he was sawing at it, with his butt.

So I hid in the shadows and observed. After he finished grinding himself into the wall, the started nipping at his own front leg. He was doing all of this out of the water.

Any idea of what could be going on?

hmm im not sure what that is. maybe he feels uncomfortable. the thing about him nipping at his hand maybe its because he thinks theres stuck on food on his paw. about the scratching his shhell... has he/she shedded yet? whats the temperature in the tank?

the water temp is 78-80 degrees. the basking area is at 100. i don't think he has shedded yet.

Have you recently changed the water or environment? It's possible that a chemical in the water like chlorine might be irritating him.

Nope. Nothing. I recently added some nitrate remover stuff, though. :/

I am cautious about chemically removing nitrate. I once (and only once) took this approach in a fish tank, and 1/2 hour later the water went milky and the fish were dying. Only a very quick 75% water change saved them, though I did loose a couple over the next day or so.

There was no real explanation as the product was well known. An expert I spoke to suggested it may have reacted with other things in the water like plant food or water conditioner.

The timing of your concerns could be coincedence, but I would do 50% water change to dilute the chemicals and not use again.

Okay... your basking area should not be higher than 90 degrees. 100 degrees is too hot, and will make your turtle shed excessively, if it likes to bask a lot. The other temps are fine, though.

It sounds very irritated by something, like when a cat chews on their legs it relieve an itch. Not that cats and turtles have the exact same problems, but I'd do a complete water change and then clean the tank thoroughly with a "two parts water one part bleach" solution. That'll get rid of everything good and bad growing in the tank, and give you a chance to start over fresh and clean.

As an added bonus, clean your turtle's shell by soaking it in salt water. You need to use aquarium salt, and should add about a teaspoon or less to the water. Aquarium salt, can go a long way. It'd soak them in this for about 30 minutes to an hour, but don't let it's head get in the water, cause I don't know if the salt will irritate the eyes or not.

Was his basking light on at that time?

Hm. I'll try thoroughly cleaning the tank.

And at the time, the red bulb I use at night was on. The basking temp with that light is 95.

They'll bask because of the warmth, not because of the light.