terrapins shaking hands

Question
QUESTION: HI, my terrapins are well and basking well.i have had them for about 5 months. and they are heathlyone is about 15cm2 and the other 12cm2.but tonight they were facing each other and thier hands were shaking and they were doing that for quiet a while.pls help.thx


ANSWER: Knowing the kind of turtle would help, but...

This is a courtship ritual. If the turtles are the right size and gender, it is usually OK but otherwise it is a sign of aggression or stress.

For many turtles, such as Red-ear Sliders, the 'right size' is about 4"/10cm straight-line shell length.

You can review the cares for most species at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com to see if there are things you can tweak to reduce stress, if that is the issue.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi my terrapins are RES. but i want to know if they will actuly mate, or if this is just something they all do. thx. At one point i didn't have a uv buld for them for about two weeks and nw i bought two. but they seem to be a bit inactive. is this normal or are they sick. thx!

Answer
Mating- if both turtles are over 4" long (straight line shell measurement) or about 4-5 years old- they sure could. Red-ears, however, rarely lay fertile eggs in the typical home setup because it is so hard to provide them the nesting sites they want.

UV bulb- plain UV (also called UVA) does not help turtles at all, and UVB is not really that important to Red-ears who get a good diet.

Inactive- Check out http://www.redearslider.com to see if your cares, temps, diet, etc. are good. Inactivity is usually a sign that something needs to be tweaked.

Good luck!