Been noticing this in one of my turtle tanks a lot lately. It's 40 gallon with three small turtles in it; a southern painted, a Mississippi map, and a red-eared slider. The map and red ear are around the same size (one and a half inches), the map being a tad bigger, and the painted is around 2.5 inches. Originally, I thought the painted was a female, based on how short its claws were. But since I added the map and red-ear, it's been doing that weird mating dance, where it brushes its claws on the other turtles' faces. It also seems to be trying to mount the other turtles occasionally. In the past few months the painted's claws have gotten a bit longer, but still not long enough to be sure it's a male. And I struggle with trying to sex them by looking at the base of their tail. Yet the map turtle, being only an inch and a half, is already growing insanely long claws. I can't tell at all with the red-ear.
So basically my question is, what exactly does the mating dance mean? Like, do females do it too? Or can it just be a dominance thing, and it doesn't have anything to do with mating at all? What's strange to me is that none of these turtles seem mature enough to mate yet.
So basically my question is, what exactly does the mating dance mean? Like, do females do it too? Or can it just be a dominance thing, and it doesn't have anything to do with mating at all? What's strange to me is that none of these turtles seem mature enough to mate yet.
