I was recently watching my turtle swimming in his tank, and I started wondering does he get lonely living there all by himself? So I was thinking of getting him a new friend, but before I did that I decided to do some research, and what I found out was very unexpected. Here are the results of my research.
Do turtles get lonely? No, turtles are not social animals and as a result, they don’t get lonely. Turtles actually prefer to be alone, and not in the company of other turtles or animals.
When I started doing the research I was amazed to see that everybody, from scientists to other turtle owners, said that turtles don’t get lonely. But after continuing with my research and finding out the exact motives I completely understand why It’s better for turtles to be alone.
What happens if you have more than one turtle in the same tank
The most common thing that can happen if you have more than one turtle in the same tank is that they will fight.
Fighting usually happens if you have one or more adult turtles in the same tank, juvenile turtles can be a little less aggressive. There are a lot of reasons why they will start a fight. One of the reasons can be the food. Even if you give them enough food, they will still try to take each other’s food and this will result in fighting. There is no way to avoid this, at some point they will fight over this if you feed them in the same tank. Placing food for each turtle in separate sides of the tank might seem like a good idea, but at some point, one of the turtles will try to go to the other side to take the food from there as well. The only way to solve this is to feed them one at a time in a separate container, unless you do this they will fight at some point over food.
Another reason why they might fight is for territory. This is just the way animals are, there is no way to stop them from doing this. If you place them in different containers then it doesn’t help them at all with the loneliness.
While I was researching I thought that placing one male and a female should solve the fighting problem, maybe this way the two turtles will get along, but I was very wrong. If you have one adult male and one adult female in the same tank, the male will continuously try to mate with the female, and at some point, the female will have enough of it and they will start fighting. Placing two males, or two females in the same tank will also lead to fights. So gender doesn’t necessarily play any role in this.
On the other hand, juvenile and baby turtles are actually very peaceful compared to adult turtles. So there are smaller chances of them fighting, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. One of the biggest problems is that they are small, and as a result, their tails can sometimes look like worms or other small animals, and because of that, they can sometimes bite each other’s tails. As a result that their tails can be nipped ant this will lead to permanent scars and to fight as well.
Placing an adult turtle with a juvenile turtle will basically result in the smaller turtle being bullied by the bigger turtle for every reason possible, so this is also not an option.
Another big problem is that one turtle can assert its dominance over the others, this will mean that the others won’t get to eat as much food and that they will also not get to bask as much, and over time this can lead to serious health problems.
Turtles just like being alone, you won’t find a turtle that likes to have company, instead, you might find that there can be turtles that are able to tolerate other turtles. After all, every turtle has a slightly different personality, and this can play a big role in how well they get with other turtles.
I’m not trying to tell you that keeping more than one turtle in the same tank is impossible, it is, but you will need a very big tank so that your turtles won’t have to interact with each other as much. But again this kind of goes against the idea of having a company.
So other turtles aren’t a good idea, but what about other reptiles?
Placing a turtle with another reptile
Unfortunately placing a turtle with another reptile is also a bad idea. Even if reptiles as a whole can be very different in appearance and customs, they all share one personality trait, they like to be alone.
So everything that can happen with two turtles can happen with a turtle and a snake, or a gecko, or a gecko, or any kind of lizard. The only difference is that the fights will be more dangerous.
Even if they don’t seem like it turtles can defeat some snake species, and usually, the wounds left behind can be very dangerous. And if a snake tries to eat a turtle, the shell can present a lot of problems during digestion. So it doesn’t matter who wins the fight, they will both have to suffer.
Unlike snakes and turtles, lizards can be very different from species to species, so I can’t give you an exact example of what can happen if they fight, but let’s just say that it won’t end in a good way for either of them.
Having a turtle and a snake, or a lizard, can actually be more dangerous than having two turtles. When two turtles fight they don’t have any advantage or disadvantage over the other, so the fight usually ends after just a couple of scratches or bites. And that is not enough to make severe wounds. But if a snake and a turtle fight things can be very different because the fight is not balanced at all.
So placing another reptile is also not a good idea, then what about fish?
Putting fishes in the same tank with your turtle
The good news is that they won’t fight. The bad news is that the fish won’t usually be able to stay more than a couple of weeks in the tank without being eaten.
Turtles really like meat, and in the wild most turtles can’t wait for the day when they will catch a fish. So placing your turtle in the same aquarium with some fish can probably make the turtle a little happier, but not because they have somebody to keep them company, instead they are happy that they have something to eat.
Turtles don’t care if the fish has really nice colors, they will eat any kind of fish, even if some of them are not so great for their health.
But if you want to know more about turtles and fishes, and why some fishes are not good for your turtle’s health, you can read this article where the subject is discussed in more detail: Do Turtles Eat Fish?
So fishes are also a bad idea unless you just want to feed them to your turtle.
Turtles Like to be Alone
Turtles are solitary creatures. There is no exact reason for why they like to be alone, it’s just the way they are. And since they are one of the longest living species on earth the fact that they survive on their own means that they know what they are doing.
So you shouldn’t worry that your turtle might get lonely, they won’t. They actually like being on their own.
Related Questions
Do turtles have feelings? Yes, turtles have feelings, While they are not as developed as human feelings, they are still able to feel some basic emotions.
Do turtles cry? No, turtles don’t cry. People believe turtles cry because sea turtles have a gland near their eyes that eliminates excess salt, and the excess salt eliminated can be easily confused with salt.
Do turtles talk? No, turtles don’t talk, but they have other non-verbal ways of communicating with each other. And sometimes they can create sounds, but usually, hose sounds are not a form of communication.
Hello,
If you enjoy the content that we create, please consider saying a "Thank You!" by leaving a tip.
Every little bit can help us tremendously in continuing to create quality content that helps turtle and tortoise owners around the world.
We really appreciate the kindness and support that you show us!