Your methodology is lacking, leaving this 'clearly defined' behavior poorly defined.



You have a young male that consistently mounts only one other male.



First of all, have you ever left Louie alone for any length of time with ONLY the females? Until you do, then you really have no way of knowing whether your turtle is not interested in female companionship.



Secondly, were you aware that males can take significantly longer to reach breeding age/sexual maturity age than do females? Before they reach that age, they frequently spar with other males before graduating to actual mating with females.



Thirdly, did you realize that not every male turtle views every other male turtle as competition? While males WILL challenge the competition, that simple fact easily explains why Louie has singled out Sonny.



Lastly, if your younger male isn't actually attempting copulation (or if you prefer, penetration...what you show in the photo is not the final stage of the courtship and mating ritual/process, BTW), then this is indeed simply an attempt to establish dominance.

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