AboutMark Adkins Expertise I will be glad to help with your tortoise- and turtle-related questions. My specialty is Red-foot and other Tortoises, but I can help with many aspects of turtle care.
Understand- I am not a vet, and the more information you can give me, the more accurate my answer can be.
(Because of the number of questions I get, I reserve the right to direct you to a good website that will help rather than re-inventing the wheel.)
Experience Tortoise and other reptile keeper since 1964.
Member of the Nebraska Herpetological Society.
Author of books and articles on tortoise care.
Currently own five Red-foot Tortoises.
Expert: Mark Adkins Date: 7/8/2008 Subject: strange behavior
Question two terrapins shaking their claws at each other. got a vid of it as well. happens quite a lot. red eared
Answer normal behavior. can mean mating or bullying. depends on size of turtle, tank. turtles don't mate until over 4". turtles WILL fight if in small habitat. rule 10 gal of water per inch of shell length total.
Whew. That was fun- trying to answer in the form of the question. However, it does not meet my criteria for a good answer.
Fluttering their front claws at the female is a typical mating behavior. If they are sexually mature (over about 4" long) and male and female- it may be courtship.
If the turtles are too small, wrong genders, etc., then it is aggression- common when turtles are crowded. You can prevent this by separating the turtles, or making sure they have a LOT of room- figure over 10 gallons of water space per inch of combined shell length.
