sex of yellow bellied sliders

Question
hi there i have two of the above and on of them is starting to  kind of fanning is claws at the other one now i dont know yet what sex they are or why they are doing this but i think they are a few months old could you help me out with this one

Answer
Hello Patrick,
The "nail dance" (as I like to call it) is done for a mating dance and also as a threatening behavior.

If they are over four inches long you can tell the gender. In which case they would be sexually mature and the "dance" would be normal.

If they are still smaller then four inches then it can very well be a dominant or threatening behavior. The one doing the "dance" to the other could be trying to say "this is my territory I am dominant, you need to leave" This would usually occur with two males. Watch closely for fighting, as this is the beginning sign of it.

Be sure your tank is large enough as well. For two turtles no matter how young the minimum needs to be 30 gallons. Bigger is better.

I hope that helped, good luck
Yexalen