Strange turtle behavior?

[QuantumModulus]

I have no idea why, but I have an Eastern Painted Turtle (very, very similar to a red-eared slider) which seems to highly enjoy being petted on the head while he/she's basking under the sun lamp. He doesn't snap at me or retreat into his shell; but rather starts bobbing his head up and down! It's quite funny, and I've owned a lot of turtles for a while so I've seen some pretty strange things, but not like this. Anyone else notice something like this, or anything else that's peculiar about how their turtles/tortoises behave?

[Nenya]

Hi there,

I haven't had any turtles myself but I think a lot of reptiles do the head bobbing movement, I know in bearded dragons it's a sign of courtship behaviour. I did a little googling and apparently in turtles the head bobbing helps them to breathe since they can't move their rib cage so this is probably what it is and it's completely normal.

I hope you and your turtle are happy together, I love turtles

[QuantumModulus]

Thanks I see the head-bobbing movement occasionally in my land tortoises, but this particular turtle just bobs its head when I'm petting it. It's really quite hilarious.

It's also in the same tank as another type of turtle (a razorback) and while the other one just tries to be alone most of the time, this one swims very close and does its own 'ritual' by waving its arms rapidly in front of the razorback's face! I've done a bit of research apparently it's a mating dance. The razorback just looks at it curiously and eventually pushes it out of the way in annoyance. I'll have to get photos sometime..