Keeping and raising tortoises is quite an enjoyable experience but these little animals can sometimes do odd things like follow you around.
This article looks into why your pet turtle is following you around.
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Why does my turtle follow me?
Your turtle following you around may confuse you and even concern you but these animals have a reason for everything they do.
Here is why your turtle is following you:
It wants food:
One of the reasons why your reptile may be following you may be that it is hungry and sees you as a food source.
It is said that turtles can’t tell the difference between food and the person who offers the food, so, your pet will think of food, and will follow you, when it sees you.
What to do:
This is normal behavior and isn’t something to worry about.
You can simply feed your pet when it feels hungry and leave food out for the turtle to eat when it is hungry.
What may also help is feeding your pet in the same place every time.
Doing this will get your pet to associate food with being in a certain location rather than associating getting food when seeing you
Your pet is being territorial:
Turles have different personalities, some of them will let you wander into their space but others will retaliate if you come into their space.
Turtles that are more aggressive will follow you around if you wander into what they see as their territory.
Male turtles are generally more aggressive than female turtles.
This aggression can usually be seen between two turtles and it can also be seen between a turtle and a human.
You coming into your pet’s space will make it feel threatened. The animal will try to retaliate by getting you out of its space by chasing you out, ie: following you.
You can safely assume that this is what is going on if the animal also bites or tries to scratch you
What to do:
If your pet isn’t causing much trouble then you can let it be, if this behavior is starting to bug you then go ahead and put your pet back into its enclosure.
Your pet wants to mate:
Another of the reasons why your turtle may be following you around, or even chasing you, may be that the animal wants to mate with you.
This is commonly seen when males come into their maleness and start looking for a breeding partner.
When a male turtle wants to mate with a female turtle he will chase after her and even bite her tail to get her to mate with him
In your case, the animal is likely following you because it sees you as something it wants to mate with
What to do:
You can communicate to your pet turtle that you don’t want to mate with it by pushing it away with your foot
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other tortoise/turtle related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Does My Tortoise Keep Hitting The Glass?, Why Is My Tortoise So Active At Night?, White Spots On Turtle Head, Turtle With White Spots On Head, White Spots On Turtle Feet, Can A Tortoise Go Into Shock?, Turtle Biting Shell, Why Is My Turtle Biting Everything?, Tortoise Skin Rot