red eared slider questions

Question
Hello! I have a few questions about two red eared sliders that I have inherited from a friend. They are aboue 5 years old and have been together for their entire lives. I have had them for about the past three years. I am not entirely sure of their sex although I believe they may both be male. One is larger than they other, about 6 inches while the other is about 4 1/2 inches. They have been doing the mating dance for a few months now, but they both do the claw wiggling which is what makes me think they are both males. The larger one follows the smaller one around and wiggles its claws in the smaller one's face. It will also sometimes nip at the smaller one's back feet. They live in a 55 gallon tank which I keep about 1/3 full of water with two areas to bask. The smaller one basks more often than the larger one. Their water is usually around 90 degrees and they eat mainly turtle pellets. They are eating nutrafin max at the moment.

They spend most of their time in my classroom where I teach 5th grade, but they are home for the summer and I have been watching them more than normal, which is why I have been noticing all of this behavior. I am not sure that I really have a specific question, but I am hoping that you will give me some advise to improve their quality of life if possible. I hope that they are happy and healthy, but turtles aren't really my speciality and I sometimes worry that I am doing it wrong. :)

Any advise or suggestions you can make would be great. I am open to changes and just want them to be happy and healthy. Thank you so much for your help.

Lauren  

Answer
Hi Lauren,

If they are both male they will need to be permanently separated. These turtles are very territorial and do not enjoy living with others. Especially two males. Males are most dominant and will fight over territory sometimes causing fatal injuries. Not to mention the stress.

The nail behavior is something that they do to "show off" they do it to a female to show they are better then the other males. Just showing off so they can mate. The female picks the one that she likes best judging on nail behavior.

Basically it is the same with two males. The one male starting it is showing "Im big bad and strong" The other one will do it back saying "Im big bad and stronger" A competition to see who is the most fit and worthy of the territory. Just as who is more fit and worthy of mating.

If doing this nail behavior the one looses he needs to leave the pond. However ini a tank that is not possible. So he has to stick around. The male who "won" can get very vicious with this.

I hope all that made sense.

Here is some information on sexing Red Ear Slider Turtles. Once you know the gender it will be easier to tell whats going on.

http://www.redearslider.com/determining_sex.html

Good luck
Yexalen