Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have two 19 year old male RES that have been together for many years. Their previous owner had them with two other RES as well. We have had them for a couple of weeks and after a week or so the bigger male started fluttering his front claws at the smaller one. At first it only happened a few times but now it seems that his entire day is designated to this behavior. He only comes up for about three strokes of air in between.
The smaller RES doesn't engage in this behavior, just swims away or doesn't pay attention to him fluttering his claws..
I've read about male dominance in RES but it seems that they should both be engaged or at least the smaller one should be stressed, hiding or otherwise showing submissive.. But he's not.
Does anyone have advice on this? I'm starting to think the bigger one is going crazy or something.. His breathing is so heavy the few times he comes up for air that I can hear him throughout my whole apartment!

In case you check back here, after a month, it is something that does indeed happen and does involve dominance and courtship. I don't THINK it is courtship. Where I work we have a slider tank for people who want to get rid of their pet sliders. River Cooters go in our outdoor pond and YBS and RES in our indoor tank. We have a Cooter-RES Hybrid male that will flutter his claws in a smaller YBS male's face. It is a sign of trying to exert dominance. The other turtle didn't mind this behavior too much at first and now just ignores it. If the other turtle stops getting enough food I would advise separation. Otherwise it doesn't matter much. The nails are soft and the fluttering isn't very rough, it's to only make contact not assault, sort of like brushing through a wall of hanging vines or beads, not enough force to put an eye out.