Any sudden aggressive behavior coming from your pet turtle will understandably be quite concerning. These animals aren’t exactly known to be the fighting type so their acting this way is quite off.
This article looks into why your turtle may suddenly become aggressive
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Why is my turtle suddenly aggressive?
Figuring out how to deal with a behavioral change in your pet turtle may be new territory for you as a turtle owner but it’s a must if you’re raising these animals
One behavioral change that you may notice in your pet turtle is sudden aggression. Here is why these animals suddenly become aggressive:
Territory:
If you add a new turtle into the enclosure, or if your lone turtle starts to feel as though there is a lack of resources in the enclosure, or lack of space in the enclosure then the animal may start to act aggressively.
What to do:
Making sure that there is enough space in the enclosure for the animal and that there is enough space for the animal to live in is important.
These animals need more space and food as they get older so make sure that you accommodate for this as the reptile gets older. These animals love having their own space and won’t get lonely if given space.
They want to mate:
If you’re raising a lone male turtle and it starts becoming aggressive towards you or aggressive in general then the animal may be doing this because it isn’t fulfilling its need to mate.
The animal’s hormones drive the animals to want to mate, and this drive is quite strong, if the animals don’t get to mate because there are no females in the enclosure then they will become frustrated and aggressive.
What to do:
Finding a female turtle for the male turtle to mate with will relieve him of the frustration he feels and will get him to stop being aggressive.
Adding a couple of females in the enclosure is best so the male turtle doesn’t tire out the one female with his attention.
Diet issues:
If there is an issue with the animal’s diet, if your pet’s diet doesn’t have enough variety, or if the animal isn’t given enough food then it may suddenly become aggressive.
What to do:
Offering your pet more food is recommended, this should keep it from becoming stressed and aggressive.
Giving your turtle as much food as will fit in its head with each feeding is recommended. If this isn’t enough then you can offer more food.
Giving your pet a variety of food should also help with aggression.
Stress:
Another reason why your pet may suddenly be aggressive may simply be that the animal is stressed.
Stress will make the animal feel threatened and feeling threatened will cause the reptile to become aggressive to protect itself
What to do:
If your pet is stressed then you’d need to quickly remove the source of the animal’s stress. Keeping your pet in a dark and quiet room until it calms down is also recommended.
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: Are Turtles Aggressive To Each Other, My Turtle Killed My Other Turtle, Turtle Biting Other Turtles Feet, Turtle Biting Other Turtles Tail