General Care Discussion :: Strange RES Behaviour

[livincorpse]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Nikhil and I have couple of RES (M/F, as per my research) who seem to be exhibiting weird behavior every now and then.

Basically,they seem to retract their heads a bit under water and then put their arms(hands?) forward and then engage in some sort of ritual or at least looks like it. They look at each other and then their arms seem to just about touch at their nails and then they start vibrating and their arms start tingling. There is absolutely no fighting or biting involved and for some reason whilst they are at it , they seem to ignore my presence completely (at other times they either come begging for food or scamper for cover).

So can some one please put some light on this 'issue' as I seem to be completely perplexed by it. Thanks a lot

Nik

[felix1318]

u mean like this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh3eoU27 ... L&index=12
if yes then it's a mating dance...

[livincorpse]

Bingo...hahaha ...just like that...

But arent they too young for that. I mean i just got them in May when they were a month old and coin sized. Now 4-5 months down the line, they are approx 4 inches and all ready for mating? Dont you think they hit maturity/Puberty way too soon

[Kemul]

It's called fluttering. It's actually either showing interest in mating or dominance.
You need to keep watching the turtles, be prepared for more signs of aggression
like nipping, biting, chasing around a lot. In that case, you need to separate the
turtles to avoid injuries or even death. Mating is rather unlikely considering their
age and size right now, I think.

[wiccabrat]

Yep what Kemul said, it's just them trying to decide who's boss. It can be harmless or it can get ugly so just watch them closely.

[livincorpse]

Thanks everyone...I have been noticing them rather keenly off late and happened to notice that the male tends to back off when the female flutters. He doesn't seem to respond at all to her fluttering. Still haven't noticed any signs of major aggression thankfully as they seemed to get along perfectly well till not so long ago so would hate to separate them.

Also happened to notice the female mounting the guy at times; shouldnt it be the other way around