General Care Discussion :: My turtles look like they don't get along

[corey7144]

they don't fight or bite or anything but when the guy gets close to her she hits his face but doesn't even seem to notice...

Also when i get out thier food izzy will splash me! (izzys the )

I have 2 turtles a boy and a . Zippy and Izzy

[corey7144]

ok.... Izzys the female... thats wierd it took out words...

[BullDog]

How big are they and what sort of setup are they in?

When you say "hits his face", is it possible that she is just excited and isn't really aware of where she's swimming?
Or, is she holding her front paws in front of her face and wiggling them?
If it's the latter, it could very well be a sign of aggression. You need to watch them very carefully for any sort of aggression, because it can quickly escalate, and one turtle can seriously injure the other, even if he or she doesn't mean to.

If this is the case, you will probably need to separate them, or give one away to a good home.

[Sgt. Pepper]

It's generally not a good idea to have more than one turtle per tank. No matter how big the tank, one turtle could decide to claim the entire thing for themselves and defend it violently.

[corey7144]

I think she does it on accident without realizing it. Zippy does that with his claws but hes trying to perform his mating ritual i can tell because sometimes he gets his way...

[megcornell]

How large are your turtles and how large is the tank?

Chances are they're starting to get territorial. Pretty soon the female may get fed up with the males advances and start getting violent towards him.

You'd be wise to look into a second set up or adopting one out before they get really aggressive and one gets hurt or killed. Female turtles can do A LOT of damage to their smaller male counterparts.

[zdub20]

I know its really a tough thing to deal with. I have 2 male turts
myself and I've recently had to purchase another tank and
separate them because they were constantly in each others
face. Before I got my 2nd tank I used a plastic bin to separate
them for a couple of months. One time I tried putting them back
together in one tank and they went right at it again, like I had
separated them for only an hour.

[Sgt. Pepper]

The "mating ritual" is also done as an act of aggression. As many others have asked, how big are the turtles and how big is the tank? If they're under 4" then they're most likely not sexually mature which means the fluttering is aggression. If they are sexually mature then you need to separate them before the fluttering turns into aggression on the part of the female.

[corey7144]

They are sexually mature the males shell is about 5 1/2 inches and the girls way bigger than him.

[megcornell]

I can't stress enough how dangerous it is to have two turtles together when they are showing signs of aggression. ESPECIALLY if the female is larger. She can and will do a lot of damage to the male.
You should really separate them.

[corey7144]

that sucks. But I have to do whats best for them.