Can Turtles Be Gay? (+How to Tell if Your Turtle Is)

Turtles have a somewhat antisocial personality, they don’t interact with other turtles unless they really have to, for example when they are mating. So it’s very unusual to see two turtles getting along, especially if they are both male, as they mostly tend to fight when they meet. So what does it mean when two male turtles seem very close together, could it be friendship or are they attracted to each other. Can turtles be gay?

Turtles can be gay. There are very well documented cases of male turtles exhibiting attraction towards each other or having intercourse.

But those cases are very rare, and happen in very specific circumstances. But in order to better understand those circumstances we will first take a look at how turtles see intercourse, this way those circumstances will make a lot more sense.

How Turtles See Intercourse

Unlike humans, and a few other animals, turtles don’t see intercourse as a pleasant activity they are mostly indifferent to it, and only do it in order to ensure the survival of their species. Which is something that every living thing on this planet does, from humans, to animals, to plants.

And due to their antisocial personality, they might actually not be thrilled about the idea, rather than indifferent.

For turtles, intercourse is just a way to make sure that their species will continue to exist, and nothing else. So, it’s only logical for male turtles to want to mate with female turtles, this is the only way to ensure that their species will thrive.

But as I said in the beginning, turtles can be gay. But this ends up happening in very specific circumstances.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Before dismissing this idea because it sounds unbelievable, I want to tell you that YouTube is full of turtles mating with diverse objects like shoes, here is one of them. (And you can definitely tell that the turtle is mating due to the specific sound).

When turtles choose a mate, they look for specific traits that are better suited for survival, longer claws, a bigger shell, a certain shell shape, etc.

And one very important thing that you need to know about turtles is that males and females have the exact same reproductive organ, and it’s called a cloaca. And it looks like this:

The cloaca is a small whole that turtles use for intercourse, lay eggs, urinate, and breath underwater. (If you want to know how a turtle breathes underwater using its butt, check out this article: Do Turtles Have Gills? (How Turtles Breathe Underwater))

The only difference between male and female cloaca is stat the male cloaca is positioned further along the tail, while the female’s cloaca is closer to the base of the tail.

We, humans, like very different things, for example some people like long hair while other people like short hair. But in the case of turtles that is not the case, all turtles like the exact same thing, and this is due to the extremely logical way they look at the mating process.

And just like in the case of humans, turtles can have more feminine or masculine traits. And this is one case in which you two male turtles can end up having intercourse with each other.

The differences between a male and female turtle are very subtle, when most turtles are able to reproduce the differences just start to get noticeable. So as strange as it might sound, it’s not impossible for a turtle to mistake the identity of another.

A Display of Dominance

While normally, turtles try to stay away from one another, when mating season comes (around spring or summer depending on the species) turtles have no choice but to interact with other turtles. Male to female interactions are somewhat peaceful, but when it comes to male to male interaction, they are more often than not aggressive.

And one way a turtle will show its dominance over another is by mimicking mating behavior.

This type of display of dominance is most often seen in captivity. Turtles are very territorial, and unless there is enough space for all of them, they will occasionally end up fighting. And the turtle that wins will sometimes establish its dominance by mimicking mating behavior.

Scientific Studies

There have been numerous studies done on turtle behavior in captivity. And in none of them, where both males and females were included, was there a gay turtle. All males wanted to mate with the females.

But when the studies were done only with males, it could happen to see some measles having intercourse with other males, and not as a display of dominance.

Can You Keep Two Male Turtles in the Same Tank?

Yes you can, but it can be difficult. It’s very difficult in general to keep two or more turtles in the same tank, but when all of them are males it can be even more difficult.

The biggest problem that you will face is aggressive behavior. But there are ways to stop that from happening. I already covered this question in-depth in this article: Do Turtles Bully Each Other? (+How to Make Them Stop). So if you want to keep two or more turtles in the same tank you should definitely check it out.

But the general idea is that you have to make sure that they don’t have any reason to fight, this means that they need to have enough food, a large enough basking area, and enough space to swim without getting in each other’s way.

Final Thoughts

So, from all we know so far about turtle behavior, we can’t really say that there can’t be gay turtles. But at the same time, turtles don’t form relationships or have intercourse for pleasure, they simply do it to reproduce. But it’s a well known fact that some male turtles have intercourse with other male turtles.

I hope this article answered all your questions about how turtles see mating in general and whether or not two males can be attracted towards each other. In case you have any questions you can leave them in the comment section below, my colleagues and I regularly check the comment and answer any question that we can find.