Why Do Tortoises Headbutt? (+How to Stop)

Why do tortoises headbutt? This is a question that many people have asked when they see their beloved turtle ramming its head into things without any obvious reason. While it may seem like an aggressive behavior, there is actually much more to it than meets the eye. Tortoises are fascinating animals with unique behaviors, and headbutting is no exception. In this article, we will explore the reasons why tortoises headbutt, what it means and how to stop this.

Headbutting is normal tortoise behavior that is mostly associated with asserting dominance, during the mating season. But tortoises can headbutt due to multiple reasons like: stress, pregnancy, completing for food, or simply boredom.

So, there are quite a few reasons why your tortoise is headbutting things around it, or even you. So we will take a look at each possible reason, and what you can do to stop your tortoise from headbutting. But before that, should you really stop your tortoise from headbutting things? Is it dangerous?

Is Headbutting Dangerous for the Tortoise?

One or two headbutts aren’t dangerous for a tortoise. But if your tortoise continues to headbutt things, it can cause trauma to the head and neck region.

If you have two tortoises, and they headbutt each other, things can get even more dangerous, as this can lead to serious injuries or worse.

Overall, headbutting in moderation is not dangerous, but if it happens obsessively it can be, and it should be stopped immediately.

But simply picking your tortoise up, and moving it away from the object that it was headbutting won’t be enough. You have to find out and solve the problem that made your tortoise start headbutting in the first place, otherwise the whole thing will start over gain.

Why Tortoises Headbutt and How to Stop It

Tortoises Headbutt Due to Stress

This is the most common reason why tortoises headbutt.

Tortoises get stressed very easily. They can get stressed by excessive noises, by other pets, by improper handling, and many other things.

If a tortoise gets stressed out, it will start headbutting things around it, and most likely it will also exhibit other strange behavior as well, like excessive digging, trying to climb out of the enclosure, hiding all the time, etc.

All tortoises react differently to stress, so there is no sure way to tell what your tortoise will do if it’s stressed, aggressively headbutting things is a common response.

Solving this problem is quite simple, just get rid of the stress source.

Finding the source is usually quite easy. Let me give you a few examples of what could stress your tortoise. A loud stereo system that is placed right next to the tank can cause a lot of stress for a tortoise. A cat or a dog that is always trying to get in the tank can also cause a lot of stress. Taking your tortoise and handling it aggressively can also be a stress source. The best way to figure out if something is stressing the tortoise is to try to put yourself in the tortoise’s place. If you think that something would stress you, then it definitely stresses the tortoise.

After you eliminate the stress sources, your tortoise will soon stop headbutting things for no reason.

Tortoises Headbutt When the Mating Season Comes

Most tortoise species have their mating season during mid-spring.

When mating season comes, male tortoises start to exhibit aggressive behavior toward each other, and in most cases this includes headbutting each other.

Even if there is no female around them, they will still do it, in order to establish a hierarchy, in the chance that a female will show up.

If you own just a single tortoise, there is still the chance that it will headbutt things around it due to hormones.

If this is the reason why your tortoise is headbutting things around it, there is not much to do, except keeping it in an enclosure where there is nothing to headbutt, until the mating season stops. This can take anywhere from one month to a few days. I had a tortoise that started headbutting things when the mating season arrived, and after keeping it in a smaller and safer enclosure stopped after just 3 days. The amount of time will differ from tortoise to tortoise.

Tortoises Headbutt Because They Are Pregnant

Female tortoises can get pregnant even if there is no male around. Tortoises lay eggs every year, the only difference if there is no male around is that the eggs won’t be fertilized, so no eggs will come out of them.

The first thing you have to do if you want to know if your tortoise is really pregnant is to find out if it’s a male or a female, so you should read this article that is going to tell you if that’s the case: How to Tell If a Tortoise Is Male or Female (with pictures).

And if your tortoise is a female, and you want to know if she is pregnant, then you should read this article where you will find all the info you need: How to Tell if Your Tortoise Is Pregnant (with pictures).

While pregnant tortoises can act very strangely, they will headbutt things for no reason, they will stop eating, and they will dig everywhere searching for a place to lay their eggs.

The best thing that you can do during this time is to remove the things that your tortoise is headbutting. Sometimes they headbutt things that they consider dangerous for them or for their eggs. If this doesn’t help place them in an enclosure and cover the walls with cloth, or something soft and wait a few weeks until it lays its eggs.

Tortoises Headbutt to Establish Dominance

If you have two or more tortoises, and you keep them in an enclosure, they will inevitably start fighting to establish dominance.

Tortoises are very territorial, and in the wild they prefer to keep their distance from one another. Only interacting on rare occasions, like during the mating season, and even then the interactions tend to be violent.

There are two solutions to this problem. One is to keep your tortoises in separate enclosures. And the second one is to keep them in a really big one, like the backyard.

Tortoises Headbutt Due to the Lack of Food

Tortoises are opportunistic feeders, this means that they eat on every opportunity that they get, fearing that their next meal might be a long time away. This won’t change even if you feed them daily, it’s simply in their nature.

If you feed all of your tortoises at the same time, in the same spot, they will inevitably compete for food, no matter how much food you give them.

Solving this problem is very easy. Just feed your tortoises separately. And ideally, none of your tortoises will know that your other tortoises are also eating. Otherwise, one of the might decided to first try to steal the food of the other before eating his.

Tortoises Headbutt Out of Boredom

Like all animals, tortoises can get bored.

When cats get bored, they start scratching and throwing things off the sleeves. Dogs start digging in the yard, running around the house and chewing shoes. Tortoises headbutt things.

If you didn’t find any other reason why your tortoise is headbutting thighs, then it might be simply out of boredom.

There are a lot of things that you can do to make your tortoise stop feeling bored, in fact I have an entire article dedicated to this subject, and you can find it right here: Do Tortoises Need Toys? (+What You Can Do Instead). In this article, you will find plenty of things that you can do for your tortoise to make it daily life more exciting.

Why Is My Tortoise Headbutting Me?

Most likely, your tortoise is not headbutting you directly. It’s probably simply headbutting your shoes. Which for some unknown reason they are known to do. Most likely, the shoe might resemble one of their possible predators, and your tortoise is simply trying to defend itself.

Tortoises don’t perceive humans as competition for anything, so they won’t try to establish their dominance.

The only possible reasons why your tortoise is attacking you are because it feels threatened, so it tries to attack first. Or simply out of boredom, and in this case the headbutt is a very light one.

Final Thoughts

So tortoises can headbutt for a number of reasons, from normal ones, like completing for a mate, to more serious problems, like stress.

Headbutting in most cases is not dangerous, the only times when it can be is when your tortoise is headbutting something obsessively. In which case you have to intervene.

I hope this article answered all of your questions about why tortoises headbutt. If you have any other questions regarding turtles, feel free to leave them in the comment section, my colleagues and I regularly check the comment section and answer all the questions that we can find.