Other Turtle Discussion :: RES rapidly twitching front legs around the face of another

[GTAkito]

I have noticed my RES twitching her front legs in the face of her fellow turtle. This was very confusing to me until I read about it on this forum. I realize since she is female and too young to mate, that this is likley a sign of agression. She must be feeling that her tank is too crowded since she has grown more. I am looking into getting something nicer and bigger anyways. Popular advice on this forum seems to be to seperate the two turtles before a serious fight breaks out causing injuries. The funny thing is that the turtle she is threatening isn't even a real turtle. It's just a carved marble sculpture of an aquatic turtle of similar size that is on the bottom of the tank in the corner. What do you guys think? Should I seperate them?

[missibsu]

You can always take it out and see what happens. However, if your set up is too small, you should still go ahead and upgrade. What is the size difference between the two?

[GTAkito]

The turtle sculpture is about an inch smaller than my RES. I have a 20 gallon tank by the way. But she is growing fast and I do want her to live as long as any RES possibly can. Petco's site said they can live 50 years!

[N4784N R4613]

LOL. I have heard off others RES doing this to all kinds off stuff (river rocks, reflexions, aquarium decorations, etc etc.). It is fine to leave it in there unless you mean the glass type marble. But you said carved so I'm guessing it is the rock type marble.

If it is the glass type marble it should be removed. It can chip and them your RES might eat the pieces that chipped off and become impacted.

[marisa]

Separate your turtle from his/her beloved sculpture? Why would you do that?

[cprcheetah]

My Zeke does this in the lower right hand corner of his tank...nothing is there, but there is a black/red cat carrier on the outside of the tank....thinking that's why he does it. He spends hours in the corner fluttering his paws.

[SpotsMama]

My Spot flutters his paws at a stone that has stripes on it. The stone never responds, but Spot never gives up. It keeps Spot - and me - entertained for hours.