Do Turtles Bully Each Other? (+How to Make Them Stop)

Normally turtles are very peaceful and docile creatures, but when you put two or more turtles together things can easily get out of control, and they will start bullying each other. So why does this happen and what can you do to stop it?

Turtles are very territorial creatures and will bully other turtles to establish their dominance. Other common reasons why for bullying between turtles are the lack of food, lack of basking areas, and mating behavior.

It is actually quite normal for turtles not to like each other. In the wild, they usually avoid each other and only share the same space if they really have to, and even then some bullying will happen. But there are some things that you can do to completely stop this behavior.

How to Stop the Bullying

While turtles can bully other turtles just because they don’t like them, this is rarely the case. Most often than not the bullying happens for a reason.

So, in order to stop the bullying, the best thing to do is to start by looking at the primary needs of your turtle and making sure that they are met. For example, if your turtles don’t get enough food they will fight each other to get more.

But sometimes even if you make sure that they have enough food, turtles will still fight for it, so you have to get a little more creative.

Feed Your Turtles Separately

Turtles are opportunistic feeders by nature, so they will always try to eat as much as they can whenever they can, even if they had more than enough. So it can be quite hard to make them share.

If your turtles fight over food, no matter how much food you give them they will still fight over it. So the only thing that you can do is to feed them separately.

You can do this by taking a container that is big enough to hold one of your turtle and leave it a little bit of room to move around. Fill that container with water, put your turtle in it, and then feed your turtle. After your turtle is done eating, wait 5 or 10 minutes then return it to the tank.

Then you can do the same thing with your other turtles.

If you have just two turtles you could feed the other turtle in the tank. But since you already have the container ready you should feed it there as well. This way you will keep the water in the tank clean for a lot longer since there won’t be any food in it.

If you are a new turtle owner and don’t have too much experience with feeding turtles I would recommend you to check out my article: How Much and How Often Should I Feed My Turtle? +Schedule. There you will find the meat methods of measuring how much food you should give your turtle, a guide on how often to feed your turtle, and 3 premade feeding schedules.

Check the Basking Area

The basking area is the source of a lot of turtle fights.

Basically, turtles need to get a certain amount of heat and UVB light each day. If they don’t they will become cranky over time and will start to fight each other. Or if only one spot in the basking area provides adequate heat and UVB, they will naturally try to compete for that spot.

So you need to get the basking area just right.

There are 3 main components of the basking area, the platform, the heat bulb, and the UVB bulb.

The Platform

The platform needs to be big enough to hold your turtles, and give them enough space that they don’t have to touch each other while basking. Alternatively, you could always have two separate basking areas. If they are both set up the same way, your turtles shouldn’t have a favorite.

The Heat Bulb

Heat bulls, come with different wattages, 50 watts, 75 watts, 100 watts, and so on. There is no such thing as a general best wattage, but there is the best wattage for each specific situation. So let’s figure out what is the best wattage for you.

In order to give an answer that will fit your setup and your turtle, we need to know two things.

The first is what temperature you can expect from a light bulb at certain distances. And second, what turtle species you have.

Now, let’s start with the first.

Here is a chart that I made showing what temperature you should expect to achieve using different powered light bulbs at certain distances.

50 Watts	75 Watts	100 Watts	150 Watts
Distance	Temperature	Distance	Temperature	Distance	Temperature	Distance	Temperature
4 inches	104°F	4 inches	120°F	4 inches	131°F	4 inches	144°F
8 inches	81°F	8 inches	91°F	8 inches	113°F	8 inches	131°F
12 inches	73°F	12 inches	81°F	12 inches	90°F	12 inches	126°F

To make this chart I used a laser thermometer and the average temperature of the room was 75°Farenheit (24°Celsius), so you might get slightly different results depending on the temperature of your room, but unless the difference is massive the temperature of the basking area should be similar.

As for the bulbs, I’ve been using these bulbs for a few years, but from my experience, all heat bulbs are very similar, so you can use whichever you like the most. But, make sure to avoid mercury vapor bulbs, I will explain shortly why,

Now that you know what temperature to expect from a heat bulb, based on distance and wattage, it’s time to see what temperature you actually need.

Overall most turtles require a similar temperature range, but if you want to get into detail, they are slightly different. And here is a list of the most common pet turtles and their ideal basking area temperatures:

Turtle Species	Temperature Fahrenheit	Temperature Celsius
Red Eared Slider	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Juvenile Red Eared Slider	95 – 100°F	29 – 37°C
Box Turtle	80 – 90°F	26 – 32°C
Juvenile Box Turtle	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Map Turtle	75 – 80°F	24 – 26°C
Juvenile Map Turtle	80 – 90°F	26 – 32°C
Mud Turtle	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Juvenile Mud Turtle	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C
Musk Turtle	85 – 90°F	29 – 32°C
Juvenile Musk Turtle	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C
Snapping Turtle	90 – 95°F	32 – 35°C
Juvenile Snapping Turtle	95 – 100°F	29 – 37°C
Pond Turtle	85 – 95°F	29 – 35°C
Juvenile Pond Turtle	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C
Cooter	80 – 85°F	26 – 29°C
Juvenile Cooter	90 – 100°F	32 – 37°C

As you can see juvenile turtles, which means younger turtles that can’t be classified as adults, will require a temperauter that is slightly higher than that of an adult, but overall the difference is not that significant.

The UVB Bulb

When it comes to choosing UVB bulbs things are a little more complicated due to the huge variety of wattages, in which UVB bulbs can be found. And then there is the fact that most manufacturers have a different rating system, and some of them have no instructions at all.

So, for UVB bulbs, I am going to give you the exact distance for a few bulbs that I’ve used before that come from a reputable manufacturer, and I will provide links to Amazon, where you can get them

Zoo Med
UVB Bulb	Distance
ReptiSun 5.0 Mini CFL	5 inches
ReptiSun 5.0 CFL	7 inches
ReptiSun 10.0 Mini CFL	7 inches
ReptiSun 10.0 CFL	10 inches
ReptiSun 5.0 T8 Linear	6 inches
ReptiSun 5.0 T5 Linear	8 inches
PowerSun 80W	7 inches
PowerSun 100W	10 inches
PowerSun 160W	22 inches

And in case you have something between the UVB bulb, like a net, or a grill, you want to move the bulb closer by one inch, as anything in between the turtle and the bulb will reduce the amount of UVB rays.

One more thing to keep in mind is that UVB bulbs will stop producing UVB rays, way before they will stop producing light. On average I would say that a UVB bulb only produces UVB rays for only half of its lifespan. I measured the amount of UVB light produced by the bulbs and noticed that after about 6 months, the amount drops considerably, so I change my light bulbs at around 6 months, and I would advise you to do the same.

And if you want to measure how much UVB light your bulb produces you can use this device. While it’s a little bit expensive, overall it will save you money since you will know exactly when the bulbs run out of UVB light, and it will help your turtle remain healthy. But it’s not a requirement.

Check the Water

After checking if the basking area is in order you should check the temperature and quality of the water.

While turtles don’t compete for water like they can do for food or a basking spot, living in a tank that has bad water or that is too hot or cold can put them in a really bad mood and can make them become more aggressive than they would otherwise be.

Let’s start with the temperature since this is extremely easy.

The Temperature of the Water

Here is a table with the average water temperature that you should be aiming for depending on the species of your turtle.

Turtle Species	Temperature Range
Red-Eared Slider	72°F – 76°F (22°C – 24°C)
Yellow-Bellied Slider	75°F – 80°F (24°C – 27°C)
Mud Turtle	74°F – 78°F (23°C – 26°C)
Spotted Turtle	75°F – 80°F (24°C – 27°C)
Map Turtle	70°F – 75°F (21°C – 24°C)
Diamondback Terrapin	75°F – 82°F (24°C – 28°C)
Painted Turtle	75°F – 80°F (24°C – 27°C)
Pond slider	78°F – 82°F (26°C – 28°C)
Musk Turtle	74°F – 82°F (23°C – 28°C)
River Cooter	72°F – 77°F (22°C – 25°C)

As you can see the temperatures are not that strict, so even if you have turtles that are different species, you should be able to find a temperature that is suitable for them.

As for reaching that temperature, it’s very simple all you need is a good water heater.

A good water heater should have the following things:

Has a heat guard – so that your turtle won’t get too close and burn itself
Is sturdy – turtles tend to break things in their tank, so you need a heater that won’t break easily
Adjustable temperature – not all heaters are adjustable, so make sure that you get one that is
Has enough power – turtles need big tanks, and not all heaters are able to heat a turtle tank, as most of them are designed for smaller fish tanks.

If you want a recommendation, here is a link to the tank heater that I’ve been using for the last 5 years: Submersible Aquarium Heater. I don’t have too many things to say about it, it’s a good and reliable heater, it comes with a guard, and you can easily select the temperature, it can heat up even the biggest tanks, so everything that you want from a heater.

The Quality of the Water

Water, especially tap water, can have a few things in it that can be very bad for a turtle, things as ammonia, chlorine, nitrates, etc.

Those things can easily affect the health and temperament of your turtles, so from time to time you should check the water in the tank, and treat it if needed.

There are ways to check the quality of your water. The simplest, although not the most reliable is to check the website of your local water treating facility, or the website of your city, town, etc.

All areas will test the water that they have, and they will make the results available to the public, even though they are not always easy to find.

The second way is to get yourself a water testing kit. This is a more reliable way of testing the water since you can test it as many times as you want and you are actually testing the water from your home. Not from a few random places in the city.

So I would recommend you use water testing kits, instead of checking for the information online. And you can do so using those strips: 16 in 1 Drinking Water Test Kit, this kit contains 100 strips, so it should last you for a couple of years. Or you can use whatever kit that you like, as long as it measures the important levels.

And speaking of, here are the levels that you want to have in your turtles’ tank:

pH between 6 and 9
Chlorine and ammonia level of 0
Nitrite level of < .5 ppm
Nitrate level of < 40 ppm

If the quality of the water is the problem, you can easily solve this problem by treating it. For the past few years, I’ve been using API products, to lower the chlorine levels in my water, and the results have been great, so I would recommend you to check out their Amazon Store Page if you need any treatment for your water, there you will find chlorine treatments, pH treatments, and many more.

More Space

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article turtles can be very territorial, and they can also become very aggressive during the mating season.

So to solve those problems you need to make sure that they have enough space so that they don’t always have to be near each other. But how much space?

When it comes to the size of the tank, there is a very simple rule of thumb that you can follow. And that is to have 10 gallons of water for every inch of shell that a turtle has.

In case you have more than one turtle, the rule still applies. So if you have one turtle that has 6 inches and one that has 4 inches, that means 10 inches in total, so a tank of 100 gallons should solve your problem.

I know that a 100 gallons tank is quite big, I have one at home, but turtles need a lot of space. So there is no other way around it.

Separate Tanks

This is probably the simplest and most efficient method, and sometimes the only thing that you can do.

Turtles can sometimes simply hate other turtles, and no matter how much space you give them they will keep bullying. Those cases are very rare, but they can happen. And the only thing that you can do is to keep the turtles in separate tanks.

Turtles are not at all social animals, they like to live by themselves, and only interact with other turtles when mating, on when they are forced by circumstance. So they don’t need a buddy to play with in the tank, they would much rather prefer to be alone. So don’t feel bad about keeping them separately.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes turtles bully other turtles because they want more food, or a better basking spot, sometimes they do it because they want to be the alpha turtle, and sometimes they do it just because that’s their nature.

In most cases, the bullying can be stopped by ensuring that your turtles have the best possible conditions. But that’s not always the case, sometimes the only thing that you can do is to keep them in separate tanks.