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.

Try http://www.redearslider.com for details.