General Care Discussion :: feet/claw flicking

[little_wiccan]

HI I'm after a bit if advise really was wondering if anyone could help.
I very got 3 yellow belly sliders all around 6" by. 4" I'm unsure of the ages of them as I rescued them. All boys as far as I know
I've just moved them into a bigger tank 3ft so they have lots more room to swim and play.
I noticed yesterday all 3 of them seem to be creating a circle with their bodies and flicking their front feet and claws at each other, at their faces. What does this mean? they aren't fighting or biting each other or anything like that but they do this for a good 5 mins then come to the surface for air, have a little swim about then continue??
Any ideas?

[michaelg]

It is a sign of aggression. They may not be fighting yet, but they probably will be soon. They are basically telling the other turtle to back off, this is my territory. If you know which one starts it, pull that one out and see what the other two do. It is unusual that 3 males would play nice together in a tank. In a large pond, they can probably get along okay, but in something small like a tank, usually not.

-Michael

[steve]

michaelg has given you the correct answer. The name for what they're doing is called fluttering if you want to look it up.

[CactusJohn5]

Gotta say DITTO on the other 2 answers and to say that you MAY have to get seperate tanks or give away 2 of them, MALES do no live well together at all unless they have TONS of space, 3, 6 inch males would need .... 200+ gallons minimum to not show aggression and even then, male turtles just like to be dominante!