Some turtles, such as the Red-eared sliders, are popular for showing a few thought-provoking behaviors such as shaking and waving their hands.

If you have noticed your pet turtle appears to flutter its arms, especially in the presence of a female, it’s normal. The behavior is not uncommon in the turtle’s world and will generally be used to urge the mate, but not always.

Common sliders and painted turtles are the most common turtles who express this behavior.

Arm Shaking and Mating

The fluttering claw movements in red sliders is often a mating dance or courtship ritual. The male turtles attempt to woo the females by showing off their underwater swimming skills and shaking their claws when they approach the female.

Sometimes females also shake their arms, so you can’t use the behavior to distinguish between the male and female. Sometimes the male turtles will do this when they are right in front of their potential mate’s face and then face the other side and vibrate its front claws around her head.

When the females are open to the advances, they respond by diving to the floors of their aquatic environment. It may take time for the male to convince the female to do this, but they might be on the verge of mating once you see this happening. The male will follow her to the bottom of the tank happily.

When the female turtle wants to turn down the advancements, they will be fierce and can snarl, but the make will come back after some time. While the wooing and arm fluttering take up to 45 minutes, mating takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Claw Caress

While sliders will flutter their front claws, other turtles have a slightly different technique. They take a more gentle approach by lifting their claws to softly stroke the female’s face without shaking.

That’s probably why males have more extended claws than females. The longer male claws heighten the caressing action.

With Other Males

The arm-fluttering is not always a courtship ritual, and it does not always mean mating has to occur. Sometimes male turtles do this as a display of higher social status and dominance.

Male turtles display their front claws while standing in front of another male, usually a precursor to physical aggression. It could signify that a battle is about to ensue where turtles can aggressively use their beaks.

Although Turtles lack teeth; battles between male turtles may lead to injuries and painful bites. Although uncommon, we can’t rule out a male-female feud or a female turtle with another female.

Youthful Turtles

Claw-flattering is not exclusively to adult turtles. There are cases of juveniles who occasionally shake their arms around as well.

Sometimes the young red-eared sliders will shake their claws around the adults in an attempt to woo them, although they are not ready to mate. In other words, the turtle will practice the technique until they are ready when the time comes.

Why Do Turtles Slap Each Other?

Slapping is usually a springtime ritual for turtles where the smaller males slap bigger females hoping to mate. Don’t worry when the slaps are tender and consensual. With territorial aggression, the slapping is also accompanied by hissing, snarling and biting. This not only can lead to injuries but can intensify stress levels.

How to Stop Turtles from Slapping Each Other?

Slapping and fluttering between males that resort to violence means you need to intervene. Space is everything here. Here are a few measures to take when turtles are slapping each other.

1. Make the Tank Bigger

When turtles are slapping each other in a non-friendly way, it’s probably that the room is too small. As it has always been the rule, you need to have 10 gallons of space per inch of the turtle’s shell length.

New turtle owners often add new turtles without upgrading the tank with turtle growth. This ends up stressing the turtles, and no wonder they might resort to violence.

To avoid this, you can get a bigger tank from the beginning so you don’t have to spend extra for the upgrades later.

2. Provide Separate Basking Spots

A basking spot is a necessity for turtles because their bodies don’t generate their own heat like ours. As said earlier, a basking spot offers UVA light to speed up metabolism, enhance mood, and facilitate breeding. Additionally, a basking spot offers UVB light needed for the production of vitamin B3.

Turtles love to bask, and if there’s not ample space to relax and soak in the sunlight, they can quickly become agitated and can slap other turtles that are limiting the space on the spot.

To get rid of this territorial aggression, you can create different basking spots or areas and, if possible, keep them far from each other. It might be a double effort but will solve competition challenges in the long run.

3. Create Separate Areas within the Tank

This one sounds tricky because it sounds like you are going to divide the tank or something close to this. It’s not the case because something simple to separate the areas will suffice.

For instance, you can strategically place rocks, plants, and decorations, so the tank has two departments. The idea seems far-fetched, but there are turtle owners who have tried this, and it works.

4. Feed Separately

A common reason for a fight between turtles is competition for food, where the dominant turtle may bully the weaker ones by slapping them. The best thing to do if you notice this is to feed them separately.

Turtles can get snappy when it comes to food and may even bite the owner’s finger. Besides, feeding turtles individually can also help you gauge how much a turtle feeds.

Feeding them in groups can make it difficult to meet individual nutritional needs. For instance, juveniles eat almost anything they find hastily, while adults may take their time before choosing what to eat.

Well, you can provide your turtles food daily to curb resource guarding behavior but ensure you don’t overfeed the turtles as this may come with its sets of cons.

5. Maintain a Good Tank Environment

If you were living in a dirty and inhospitable room, it could indeed affect how you feel. Turtles that live in a cramped environment can quickly become stressed and unhappy, leading to slapping and fights.

Considering its messy nature, the tank can easily become inhabitable. The poop combined with leftovers can make the tank dirty, and you need to spend a chunk of time cleaning regularly.

You can feed the turtle in a separate tank from the one they live in and let them stay for about 30 minutes in the feeding tank to defecate.

After they are done, you can then transfer it to their usual tank. Also, make sure you use a robust filter to get rid of the gunk.

How Do You Know If Your Turtle Is Happy?

Turtles are definitely not the most active and expressive, so it’s hard to tell when they are happy. The truth is that as turtle owners, we can do everything in our power to ensure our pet stays comfortable.

Unfortunately, turtles wag their tails, purr, or wiggle, so there’s nothing physical to look after. This, however, does not mean that there are no clues and signs that can help you know when they are happy.

A lot of owners have said that they know their hard-shelled friend is happy because they act in a certain way when they see them.

Some say their turtle swim towards them, and others may even hit the tank when you pass by. Some even say weird things like, when the turtles see them, they will jump.

Others with shyer turtles have no idea, but they know their turtle is happy because it ignores them while it used to hide when it was new. According to experts, there are also sure signs of a happy turtle.

1. Feeding Behavior

Turtle may not be interested in their owners if they don’t associate them with food. But when they start to know you, they will come to you as assume you’ll give them food. They may even come closer to you and beg you like a puppy and may even throw a chirp.

Turtle owners admit that giving turtles more food is always tempting even though they are done for the day. Juveniles are likely to beg more, eat greedily, and leave no leftovers in the tank compared to adults who can go for days without food.

Although happy turtles are always ready to feed when there’s food around, it doesn’t always show unhappiness when they don’t beg for food.

If a turtle begs for food, it’s an indication they are happy. A turtle that won’t feed at regular feeding times is likely to be sick or stressed. Several things to check include water chemistry or the food. Consult a vet if your turtle shows no appetite for food.

2. Hunting for Food

A turtle’s natural diet is live food. When they spot a cockroach, they will chase it all around the tank. If you throw a fish, bloodworm, or crustaceans in the tank, it’s always fun to watch how it hunts it down.

A healthy, happy turtle should be overexcited to live food. If the turtle ignores it or acts passively, it might signify illness or health-related issues.

3. Loves Basking

It’s natural for aquatic turtles to bask, considering their cold-blooded nature. Apart from temperature regulation, turtles need Vitamin D from the UV rays. Vitamin D allows the conversion of food to calcium required by the bones and shells.

A happy turtle will bask often and stretch the legs and neck to increase the surface area. If your turtle won’t bask, it’s probably nothing, but if the situation carries on for a while, they are probably unhappy.

4. Comfortable With Handling

Turtles are shy pets, especially if they are new. They will immediately retract into the shell when they feel threatened. But with time, they will know you mean no harm and will be comfortable with handling.

So, if a turtle is ignoring you without retracting when you handle it, it means it’s pleased with you around them.

5. Splashing

Aquatic and semi-aquatic turtle species have been seen splashing water when they are excited. This happens when the owners go near the tanks as they combine water splashing with food begging behavior.

Other owners say happy turtles splash water when you are about to give them food. They are conditioned to be excited about the food source.

6. Digging

Turtles also dig and forage when they are in their best element. If the turtle is digging the gravel at the bottom of the tank, it’s a sign they are happy.

A turtle lacks nostrils, but they have barbels and a bump under the chin – which gives them a good sense of smell. So you can go and buy worms and bury them under the substrate and leave the turtle to forage it.

7. Loves Adventure

A happy turtle will always be ready for adventure. Species like the red-eared sliders dive deep when they are comfortable and are willing to display their swimming prowess as they swim between plants in the tanks and other decorations.

They are also curious about hiding places where they can rest inside the tank. When placed outdoors, happy turtles will roam from corner to corner and around every nook.

That’s why you need to provide more area to meander when the turtle grows. If the turtle is hiding all the time, something might not be right with the turtle.

8. Clear Eyes and Breathing

Clear breathing and sight with no breathing is usually a sign of a healthy and happy turtle. Swollen or weepy eyes can be a sign of illnesses such as Vitamin A deficiency.

Also, difficulty breathing leading to Mouth breathing is a sign of unhappy turtles. But if your turtle’s eyes look sharp and breathing is normal, it’s a good indicator they are happy.

9. Playing With Toys

Some owners will also place toys in the tank for the turtle to play it. It could be a small floating ball such as a ping-pong ball that they love pushing around the water.

However, not every turtle does this, and some will need to learn how the game works. When they do, they usually love it and will often play.

Another common toy turtles love playing around with are empty conch shells, which turtles use for interaction. If the turtle keeps playing with the toys, it’s a sign they are mentally stimulated and happy.

10. Normal Body Functions

Also, a turtle showing normal bodily functions is happy. For instance, you could observe the frequency of passing feces and whether it looks normal.

Again, the eyes need to be clear, no mucus discharge from the nose and ears, and breathing should be smooth.

How To Keep Your Turtle Healthy and Happy?

As we always say, a healthy turtle is a happy turtle. In other words, the best way to know your turtle is pleased is to keep them in a comfortable environment. A healthy turtle environment needs three basic things:

• A balanced food
• Clean water
• Basking area and plants

1. A Balanced Diet

A turtle that eats everything it needs stays happy. Most pet turtles are omnivores meaning they can eat meats and plant-based foods.

So a well-balanced diet includes these and some food pellets. The ideal diet for your turtle should contain meat, fish, dried and live insects, fruits, leafy greens, carrots, and aquatic plants.

Turtles can feast on anything, so you need to choose food for them. Avoid sugary food items, dairy foods, and foods containing oxalic acid. The acid is highly toxic to turtles, especially when the concentration is high.

Common plants and vegies containing a high amount of oxalic acid include parsley, chives, cassava, blackberries, spinach, amaranth, avocado, and purslane.

Live foods are an excellent option to excite your pet turtle, so you can occasionally throw in a feeder fish, crickets, snails, and worms.

2. Fresh Water and a Bigger Tank

Another way to keep your turtle happy is to provide clean water in a big tank and keep the temperatures between 75-85⁰F. So, the water tank needs to have a water filter to remove waste and a water heater to adjust the water temperature, providing some protection on the heater so that the turtle doesn’t hit and break it.

Water filters can be trickier to choose because there exist several types. Amphibian and fish tank filters are not as powerful as turtle tank filters.

Once you know this, it’s not that complicated to get the right Filter. In addition to a water filter, change the water at least 15% to 25% weekly to maintain the water clean.

Above all, the tank plays a significant role in keeping a turtle happy. The rule of thumb is to have 10 gallons per inch, so if your turtle is 6 inches, you need a 60-gallon tank.

If you start with a small tank, be sure to increase the size as the turtle grows. Keep in mind that most turtles are not deep divers, so the horizontal space needs to be more.

3. Basking Area and Plants

For a turtle to stay healthy and happy, a basking area is a must. This is where the turtle gets Vitamin D and keeps the body temperature optimum. You don’t have to complicate anything here.

You just need a surface such as a cut plastic box. More importantly, you need to place a UV bulb (not too near and not too far) above the spot. If you have more turtles, you need a larger basking area.

Turtles also require a land portion inside their habitat to dig sand into foraging for food and basking. Also, add plants, gravel, and decors to keep the turtle curious.

How Do You Know If a Turtle Is Unhappy?

Turtles can express noticeable signs when unhappy, ranging from lack of movement to loss of appetite. Sad turtles also make hissing and grunting sounds. When turtles are crammed into a small pool, they will appear to be unhappy. Environmental stress can cause a turtle to appear unhappy.

These include keeping a turtle in a captive environment that does not meet the turtle’s natural habitat. Such turtles can get stressed due to poor husbandry and lack of an appropriate diet. The following are some of the signings to look out for in an unhappy turtle:

1. Lack of Movement

If your pet turtle has changed from being active to lack of movement for long periods, there could be a chance that they are unhappy. Turtles often bask in the sunlight for hours due to their cold-blooded nature, and they also hibernate during the colder months.

Hibernating turtles often appear to be not breathing and don’t respond to noises. Avoid disturbing hibernating turtles and just let them come out of the hibernation themselves.

Lack of movement can also indicate illness in a turtle if it also appears listless and weak. Such infections can be accompanied by other symptoms such as dry skin, loss of weight, and weepy eyes and nose.

2. Loss of Appetite

When a turtle is unhappy with its environment or its diet can lose all interest in the food you provide.

Turtles are opportunistic omnivores meaning that they rely on a primarily carnivorous diet with edible vegetables and leaves along the way.

When a turtle appears to have lost appetite, you should try switching its meals to fit what is naturally present in its natural habitat. 

If you notice your pet turtle has lost its appetite, you should check its mouth to clear off any infection-related doubts.

A healthy turtle’s mouth has a pink color, while an unhealthy one will often have a pale hue and appear anemic.

3. They Make Noises

While turtles don’t have vocal cords, they can produce a range of sounds such as chirping, whistling and gurgling.

When a turtle is unhappy, it can grunt and make a hissing sound. When a turtle gets picked up quickly or is afraid, it will pull its head quickly into the shell; this forces out air from its lungs in a hissing sound.

4. They Appear Lethargic

Turtles can appear lethargic when unhappy due to low metabolism and changes in the weather. Towards their hibernation time, turtles will also appear to be more sedentary as their metabolism slows down and the digestive system clears out in readiness for the cold winter months.

Unhappy turtles can also avoid the pool or just swim and bury themselves in the sand at the bottom for days.

It’s important to note that unhealthy turtles will always appear unhappy, so it is critical to ensure that your turtle isn’t sick. If in doubt, you should contact your vet immediately.

You should also check the pool and drain out the water before introducing fresh food or even moving the turtle to a larger tank or a new environment entirely.

What Do Turtles Like to Play With?

Turtles are not that much into getting handled; instead, they prefer to play with toys that excite them. Turtles are relatively slow and cannot be taken out for walks like other pets, and they don’t prefer cuddling like cats.

They engage in playful activities with objects within their reach. Enriching your turtle’s life through toys, intersecting, and playing will go a long way toward keeping them happy by providing different stimuli.

Such activities keep pet turtles active and healthy for an entire life despite not living in their natural habitat. Here are some toys and techniques you can use to enrich your turtle’s life. 

1. Toys

Turtles love playing with toys of all kinds, even with objects that are just within their vicinity. Empty shells are a perfect natural toy for your pet turtle to flip and play around with.

Adding small floating rafts to your turtle’s tank will spruce up the amount of fun they have on the water, from trying to sink the rafts to pushing them around.

Turtles enjoy playing around with brightly colored kids’ toys but avoid using toys with parts that can come off.

Rocks and sticks collected outside can also arouse curiosity in turtles, and they will investigate and eventually play around with the foreign objects when added to their enclosures.

2. Environment

Turtles naturally dig through sand and gravel out in nature, so providing such an area in their tank will offer a fantastic playground for them.

Turtles can also play around with plants and small branches. They enjoy discovering new places to explore and such changes in the environment provide the ultimate entertainment for your turtle.

With some extra space and rocks, you can also design mini caves for tour turtles to explore and rearrange as they play with the stones.

Turtles raised in enclosures should also be let outside to experience the sun and play around in the grass.

3. Food

Feeding your turtle treats is a great way to get them interested in playing around. However, you should not overfeed your turtle in the name of playing with them, as they will eventually become overweight and lazy.

You can introduce treats in the form of turtle pellets, leafy greens, fruits, shrimp, mealworms, or other favorites from the turtle’s natural environment.

4. Human Interaction

You can play with your turtle without handling them too much as they don’t like i,t and there’s the possibility of contracting salmonella bacteria. 

You can take them out of the tank, set them free in the yard, and let them follow you around.

Alternatively, you can play around with the turtle while it’s in the tank by wiggling your gingers at them from the outside.

How to Play With Your Turtles?

1. Handling

You can pick your turtle and take it out of its tank for minimal handling. Avoid placing the turtle on its back or trying to get it to come out of the shell forcefully. You can pet their shell, chin, and head if the turtle doesn’t mind it.

2. Racing

With a few stones and sticks, you can make a runway for your turtles to race with a few treats spaced out the entire length to keep them motivated. You will have to help the turtles stay on the runway at times by gently guiding them.

3. Interaction Outside the Tank

To avoid disturbing your pet turtle, you can interact with it through the glass tank and play around with your fingers or make faces at the turtle. The objective here is to keep the turtle interested.

4. Outdoors 

Taking your turtle outdoors provides them with the opportunity to forage, scavenge and play out in nature. Such activities keep them excited and give a chance for you to play around with your pet turtle out in nature.

5. Obstacle Maze

You can set up a temporary obstacle maze for your turtle to explore and play around in. These don’t have to be complex and you can use sticks, stones, and plants to make the maze. Remember to spread out a few treats along the maze to keep your turtle engaged.

6. Gravel Digging

Turtles love digging through gravel and sand making them a great addition in the turtle’s habitat. You can provide textured gravel substrate for your turtle to play with and allow their natural foraging instincts to go wild.

7. Putting Up New Decorations

Introducing new decorations around your turtle’s tank will make things interesting for your pet and keep them entertained. A change in decoration every month or just with the seasons will give your turtle more interesting things to look at especially if the decorations do move around or produce some sort of noise.

8. Playing Tricks

With a bit of time and patience, you can teach your turtle new tricks and play around with them. An easy starter would be “find the treat,” where all you need to do is hide your turtle’s favorite treats inside their habitat, such as in the gravel and under toys.

Your turtle will enjoy borrowing through the entire place, trying to figure out where the treats are.  Over time you can progress to more advanced tricks just as long as your turtle is interested in playing along.

9. Introducing New Inhabitants

While turtles are loners, they prefer to have a few living inhabitants in the tank, especially those they can hunt.

You can add live feeder fish, tadpoles, snails, live shrimp, and insects for your turtle to chase around, and they are an excellent supplement for their daily diet.

Do Turtles Show Affection?

Pet owners often ask questions like these because they love it when their little hard-shelled friends give love back.

Well, turtles show affection in their own way. Yes, their affection is quite different from other pets, but they have body language, sound, and scent to show some love.

How Do Turtles Show Affection?

Unlike dogs and cats, turtles won’t come running or purr when they are begging to cuddle. Instead, they prefer to sit in one place and be content that you are present. Being interested in their favorite human is probably the best way they can show affection.

A long and stretched-out neck in your presence is sometimes an indication that a rub or a scratch on the shell is what they need. Sometimes they can lean into your touch and close their eyes, which is a sure sign of affection.

Turtles won’t jump up and down but can come swimming towards you when you go around them, hoping you might throw a tasty treat.

For tortoise they may walk around you and even touch their nose to your hand to show affection. You can encourage this behavior by responding with a touch to show that you are interested.

What Emotions or Feelings Do Turtles Feel?

Turtles have a wide range of emotions similar to humans although there might be a few emotions we may not have figured out yet. They include:

• Curiosity – turtles show heightened feelings of curiosity when they poke around their enclosure. Most of the time, their curiosity is mainly centered to food or probably exercising.

• Boredom – we may not have discovered but turtles get bored too and may turn to destructive behaviors. They are likely to overturn things in their environment dig up plants and try to climb out of the cage for new experiences. For such a turtle, try getting some nice toys and organize a nice playing session with them.

• Friendship – although turtles enjoy their company, some species may live much better with a friend. However, you need to research about your turtle species to know whether adding cage-mates is the right thing to do. If you decide to add more, ensure you add the space because turtles are territorial and may be aggressive to any buddies running in the place. The space also includes the addition of basking spots, and you need to avoid mixing guys with girls because guys can’t just help themselves.
• Jealousy – Turtles do have feelings of jealousy, although this is quite different from human jealousy. This is more common in makes where males won’t get along with other males, especially when females are around.

• Love – there’s a debate whether turtles can feel love, but we personally think they are capable of expressing feelings of love. Unfortunately, it’s hard to receive the answer from a turtle. If turtles can be interested in us when we are around them and feel lonely when away, that sounds like love.
• Fear – whenever a turtle feels threatened, it will retract back to the shell and hide. Some even try to run back into the water, which shows they get scared.
• Pain – some people may wonder if these hard-shelled creatures feel pain. Of course, they do because their bodies have nerves. They feel both physical and emotional pain as we can see them wince when they are hit.

Do Turtles Recognize Their Owners?

Yes, turtles can recognize their owners and caretakers. Of course, this takes a great deal of time, but turtles do learn because they are brilliant in their own way. They can recall your scent, behavior, and sounds.

When you enter the room, they will look up and probably lighten up by stretching out their necks as they await neck rubs and treats.

However, these reactions will vary from turtle to turtle, depending on how much time they have interacted. While the recognition takes time, some turtles are easy to get along with and will warm up quicker.

Do Turtles Bond With Humans?

Yes, its possible for turtles to bond with humans especially in captivity as they seem to recognize their owners. Some argue it’s because they associate the owner with food, but it’s nice to imagine that your turtle loves you and sees you as a source of safety.