Turtles can be quite interesting and even captivating animals, they are lovely to have around and are calm and peaceful pets to keep, until they aren’t.
If one of your turtles starts acting oddly, if the male turtle starts biting the neck of the female turtle, then you’d understandably be worried.
This article looks into why this happens
Table of Contents
Male turtle biting female neck:
Any aggression, like biting, in your turtles will understandably startle you as a turtle owner, but the reason for this is quite normal and natural, the male will do this while counting and mating with the female turtle
Breeding season:
The courting behaviors of many animals are quite odd and may even seem dangerous to us humans, but these behaviors are totally normal for animals.
The behaviors of turtles during reproduction can be as diverse as the turtle shells themselves. One odd mating behavior that you may notice in your turtles is the male turtle biting the neck of the female turtle,
The male turtle will start off by biting at the female turtle’s neck to get her to notice him and to get her attention. This is his way of politely tapping her on the shoulder and saying “Hey”
The male will also bite the female turtle’s neck while he is mating with her so he has something to hang onto while he is on top of her and they are mating.
Doing this will help him stay put as he is busy and while they are busy thrashing about
The biting can also happen if the female turtle refuses him and the male relentlessly harasses her and gets aggressive with her by biting her neck forcefully.
What to do:
You don’t have to worry if you see the male turtle gently biting the female turtle, this is quite normal behavior and isn’t necessarily aggressive or harmful in most cases.
The biting he will do is more of a gentle nip and not so much a forceful bite. Keep an eye on the pair to make sure that he isn’t biting too hard.
If the biting is too hard, or if the male is biting her excessively then you may have to intervene
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: What Kills Pet Turtles?, Do Turtles Eat Their Babies?, Why Is My Turtle Attacking My Other Turtle?, Why Is My Turtle Biting The Other One?, Turtle Biting Other Turtles Head Off, Why Does My Turtle Try To Bite Me?, Do Male Turtles Eat The Eggs, Turtle Scratching Shell On Toothbrush, Why Do Turtles Put Their Feet Up At Night?