Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sammy, my male painted turtle, probably about 9 or 10 years old, has recently moved into a nice sized tank, and has noticed the ship wreck decoration sitting on the bottom. The ship wreck is roughly the same size he is, and is for the most part brownish in color with some splashes of orange around the outside of it. So, its also roughly the same COLOR as he is.

For some reason, he's quite fascinated with this thing, and I've watched him float around it staring into it, as if he's trying to figure it out. But what's really strange is when he lowers himself almost to the bottom of the tank, faces straight toward what would be the front of the ship, and starts doing a little dance with his arms. Basically, he sits perfectly still, and stretches his arms out towards the ship, wiggling them slightly as they get closer to the ship, then sweeps them out to his side. Then waits a couple of seconds and does it again. And he'll do that over and over and over for quite a while. Then I guess he gives up and goes and does something else. Later, he'll come back and do it again. He's been doing this since he moved in to the new tank - roughly 6 weeks now.

What's your best guess of what this dance is, if anything?

Thanks!
Mark

Hey,

Many experienced turtle owners see their aquatics do this ALL THE TIME. In literature, this is supposed to be their mating dance to each other. The male would stroke/vibrate his claws against the female, the female may do it back, etc. Then they get busy.

But a lot of turtle owners have seen their turtles do the "dance" to random things as well--rocks, staplers, turtle food, dead fish, the owner, etc.

Nothing abnormal.

Johnny

That's sorta what I figured. Thanks for confirming it!

Take care,
Mark

One of my male turtles (who is in a tank by himself) does this to his slate rock on the bottom of the tank. The rock is red so looks nothing like a turtle. I do worry sometimes when he does it because he will do his dance for a long time. I am scared he is going to drown because he gets so into it lol. I have heard female turtles can drown while mating because the male gets into it and won't let her come up for air, and that's why a breeding tank has little water. Anyway that's just what I heard.
My male and female (who are in a tank together) do this dance all the time, but nothing ever comes of it.

Probly what you heard is that sometimes toads when mating, a male will grab the female backwards and hold her under causing her to drown, because Ive seen that happen before. Aquatic turtles can stay under water for hours at a time, and they are powerful swimmers, I doubt an aquatic turtle female would be at any risk of drowning during mating without a pre-existing ailment.
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