My female turtle bites my male turtle. Why are they suddenly doing that?

Question

It started last week when she tried to nip at his leg. She is about 7 inches in length or more and my male turtle is smaller and about 4.5 in.

She doesn't do too much and it just scares him and leaves him a little bit pink, but I'm afraid because it's happening more often. I've heard stories of turtles biting each others tails off.

Right now I don't have the option of moving them into separate tanks.

Answer 1

Mating happens in May thru June and babies in Aug thru Sept.  If anything you may half to get some plexi glass and divide the tank.

She is probably doing as my girls are wanting to nest yet they are way to old.

Are they need to basking,Ok  under a reptile light UVA/UVB for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always. These turtles in captivity do not hibernate their eating may slow down some but they will not hibernate.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

You need a good filter system!

You know the mating dance happens all the time in my pond. My girls are 36 yrs old and the mles dance all the time. The girls do xchase sfter them and bite. but they are fineee. As long as you have plenty of fish and room as you do they should be fine.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear in a few days! When I got these two 36 yrs ago all we had in back then  were goldfish to feed , so after 36 yrs and still going strong. They can eat goldfish! I spend about 175.00 a month on fish ,goldfish and minnows. An Extra  75.00 on leafy greens and dried cubed tubiflex worms.

This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes,  foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.

TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

They can have garden worms, meal worms, snails, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and  anything that moves only as a treat.

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose.

**Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.

Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet /  rescue in your city and state.

I wish you luck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

Answer 2

Alas, the tank is too small for both or them. She is being territorial.

Answer 3

maybe the female turtle needs more space/it just being territorial.