Hi,
short: 2 RES, male(5 inches)/female(7-8 inches); 125 gallon tank
I'm new at keeping RES, so I have a lot of questions, but I didn't feel like starting a million new topics so I thought I would umbrella them under one.
I'll start with the less important one:
#1 Lovesick Turtle
My male does the mating dance (termed 'boogie woogie' by my friend) to the female constantly. She doesn't seem to mind, but doesn't really seem interested either. He keeps following her around and brushing her cheeks with the fingernails whenever he can, but she just swims right by. I feel sorry for him, though I have no desire for turtle babies. This may be a silly question, but is this going to upset him? Is there anything I can do for him? Should I even be worried about it?
#2 Weird Shell
These are actually turtles I am watching at my house for a friend for a few months. So I don't know their history exactly. The oldest is the female, whom he has had for at least 10 years. When he got her, her shell had an indent in it, as opposed to beig nicely rounded like other turtles. She still grew, but her shill is concave instead of convex. It doesn't seem to affect her health: she is active, basks, and eats normally. She loves to chase after feeder guppies, but she's a terrible swimmer. She splashes more than she moves. She still gets around, but has developed her own, very clumsy, way of propelling herself. Again, this doesn't stop her from going wherever she wants, she just displaces a lot of water to do it. On land she moves around pretty well. I'm guessing that the shell has something to do with this. Is this a problem, and should I be watching for anything? Does she have any special needs I should be aware of?
Thanks,
Pi