Why Do Turtles Bite Each Other? Reasons Why They Engage in Bitting

Turtles may seem like gentle, docile creatures, content to spend their days basking in the sun and sliding into the water. As such, you might be shocked when they turn aggressive with their mouths gaping open as they lunge to bite. 

But why do turtles bite each other? Well, turtles might become aggressive towards each other for reasons like mating, social hierarchy, and dominance. The creatures might also be suffering from stress, hormonal fluctuation, and excess starvation. Other reasons for the behavior are incompatibility, resource competition, small habitat, and so on.

This article will all be about the reasons behind these unexpected snaps and chomps. By the end of the write-up, you’ll also receive insights on how you can minimize this aggressive behavior.

An Overview of Why Do Turtles Bite Each Other?

Here is a table illustrating the reasons behind these creatures biting each other:

Reasons for Biting	Minimizing Strategies
Territorial Disputes	Ample space
Mating Rituals	Respect their natural behavior
Resource Competition	Maintain resources; use visual barriers.
Hierarchy and Dominance	Monitor and separate dominant turtles.
Defense Mechanism	Create a stress-free environment with hiding spots.
Hormonal Influences	Allow natural hormonal behaviors.
Starvation and Cannibalism	Ensure a well-fed habitat.
Environmental Stress	Maintain a stable, clean environment.
Incompatibility	House different species separately. Monitor and separate incompatible turtles.
New Turtle	Give it time to settle down and get used to the existing turtles.

10 Reasons Why Turtles Bite Each Other

Below, we dive deep into the explanations as to why turtles would engage in this aggressive behavior:

1. Territorial Disputes

A turtle’s territory consists of the area where it spends most of its time basking, feeding, and sleeping. The animal will not take it kindly if another turtle encroaches into these spaces of established territory. 

The defending turtle will initially retreat into its shell. This is one of the reasons why turtles hide in their shells. The animal will then hiss as a warning. If the approaching turtle does not heed, it will be forced to quickly dirt its head out to bite.

2. Mating Rituals

When the time is ripe for mating, males will actively engage in behaviors that signal their intentions to prospective partners. Biting, though it may seem counterintuitive, plays a crucial role in courtship. 

The bites for courtship and mating are gentle, unlike those witnessed in territorial disputes. Males will delicately nip at the females to showcase a form of affection or readiness to engage in reproduction. 

3. Resource Competition

Resources underwater are finite, ranging from food, basking spots, and nesting sites to turtle winter hiding locations. Turtles recognize this, prompting a competition to secure the resources. 

So when one turtle gets to such a finite resource, it will use biting as a strategic and tactical move to avoid being pushed away. 

4. Establishing Hierarchy and Dominance

In shared ecosystems and habitats, a social structure emerges, with some turtles exerting dominance over others. The dominant turtles tend to be the largest and most aggressive males. They bite others to reinforce their status and control. 

Dominant males also bite the heads and flippers of females before attempting to mate with them. The bite helps contain the struggling females who may initially resist the mating attempt.

Here is a YouTube Shorts showing a female resisting mating, forcing the dominant male to result in a fight.

5. Defense Mechanism

Turtles also use biting to protect themselves when provoked by other turtles. They can first bob their heads for various reasons, including as a defense mechanism. Next, the turtle will start hissing to scare the provoking colleague before retreating to the shell. 

If the provoking turtle doesn’t back off, the turtle will be forced to defend itself by snapping back aggressively. Biting is the only means turtles have for fighting back. They don’t use limps or any other part of their body to fight back when provoked.

6. Hormonal Influences

Hormones provoke turtle biting at certain times of the year. For instance, during mating season, the increase of testosterone fuels competitive, domineering behavior between males that leads to biting. 

Meanwhile, the female turtle’s biting behavior increases during egg laying. It serves as a protective measure for their unhatched offspring. Out of maternal instinct, females will bite others that come too close to their nesting sites before she has buried them.

7. Starvation and Cannibalism

Turtles in severely deprived environments may bite off the limbs and flesh of other turtles in an attempt to consume calories wherever possible. Such tragic cannibalistic biting occurs when their habitat can no longer support the number of turtles present. 

The complete lack of food and extreme drought can lead them to starvation and eventually cannibalism. Hatchlings and juveniles are often more prone to being bitten by adults. Keep in mind that this only occurs in carnivorous or omnivorous turtles. 

8. Environmental Stress

When stressed, turtles will resort to biting each other. Factors like pollution, insufficient space, changing water levels, and human encroachment can provoke turtles into aggression. 

For instance, a sudden drop in water exposes more turtles to one another in a limited water space where they were previously separated. Now, too close, biting will be imminent. 

For domesticated turtles, noise and air pollution could lead to them being aggressive towards each other. This could be from vehicles, nearby construction sites, loud music, and other factors that force them into closer quarters. 

9. Incompatibility

Different turtle species have evolved to have specialized ways of life and diets. Putting such turtles into one habitat will result in fights. 

Also, some individual turtle personalities clash. Some might have a naturally timid behavior, and others are docile. When put together in an enclosure with more domineering residents, a fight is imminent. 

10. Introducing a New Turtle

Biting could also come from introducing a new turtle to an already established group. As this turtle settles down it might have aggressive responses to change. Biting becomes a tool for this aggressiveness as it tries to settle down and blend into the group. 

How to Minimize the Chances of Turtles Biting Each Other

Here are the solutions to this aggressive behavior for domesticated turtles:

• Spacious habitat: Choose a tank that accommodates the growth of turtles. We recommend allowing at least 10 gallons of water for each inch of one turtle. 
• Sufficient feeding: Establish a feeding routine. Give the turtles a balanced diet and regularly monitor and adjust feeding quantities based on their size and requirements. As for a “balanced diet,” it will differ depending on whether your turtles are herbivores, omnivores, or carnivores. In general, replicating the food they consume in their natural habitat is enough to stop their aggressive bitings due to starvation. 
• Good quality water: Use a high-quality water filter and conduct regular water changes. Monitor parameters like pH, ammonia, and temperature to ensure they are in their optimal conditions to avoid stressing them. For pH, it should be 7.4 to 8.0. Ammonia is also dangerous to turtles, and its content should be below 0.25 ppm (parts per million). 
• Avoid multiple male turtles: Male turtles in the same habitat will constantly compete for dominance. To stay safe, have only one male per turtle tank. This would minimize territorial and mating disputes that lead to aggressive behavior. 
• Provide barriers: In the turtle habitat, there are rocks, plants, and other barriers where they can go hide. This will be a safe spot for less dominant turtles to retreat to and avoid aggression. 
• Large basking area: Use separate basking lamps in your home habitat. Place them in different areas and ensure there is adequate space between them. This will prevent overcrowding and biting behavior. 
• Separate different species: You do not want to have an herbivorous turtle in the same tank with a carnivorous species. This will prevent conflict arising from incompatible behaviors and territories. 
• Monitor environmental stressors: Create a calm and stable environment. Avoid sudden changes, keep noise levels low, and provide hiding spots for turtles to retreat to. 
• Immediate separation if biting occurs: If any turtles engage in aggressive biting, separate them immediately. Let each have its own tank and basking area. 

As for factors like hormonal influence and mating rituals, there is nothing you can do about those bites. They are natural, harmless, and bound to happen. 

Conclusion

The above has put to bed your question about why do turtles bite each other. The behavior occurs for various reasons like establishing dominance, mating rituals, reacting to environmental stressors, and so forth. 

With thoughtful captive care considerations for habitat size, group compatibility, and visual barriers, you can minimize this biting. The word is “minimize” since the innate urge to bite remains embedded in all turtles as an efficient self-preservation strategy. However, don’t interfere when it is a mating bite.