Having a group of turtles in your house may make you wonder if they will interact with each other. Animals can be either social or solitary, meaning they prefer to be in a group or do things alone. In this case, are turtles more towards social or solitary? Let’s discuss this topic in detail.
Turtles are mainly solitary animals. They are territorial and preferred to be alone. Turtles do not show the need for companionship like other animals. However, they do perform some activities together to increase the chances of survival. These activities are basking, migrating, and laying eggs.
As you may have realized, pet turtles are mostly solitary animals. It doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t like you, but this is how their brain is wired to work. As we discuss further, you may see that sometimes, turtles also do things together. Read on to learn more about their solitary behavior and how to tell when they like being around you.
Why Are Turtles Solitary Animals?
As mentioned above, turtles are mainly solitary animals. Not much has been learned about how they communicate with each other in a group. When they go basking together, it is not because they want to be social but more for survival.
They Are Territorial
Like other reptiles, two male turtles are likely to see each other as competitors for food resources, space, and also female turtles. Hence, they can become quite territorial and might even show aggression towards each other.
Therefore, turtles are actually not very social and do not need companionship like us. Their brains are not wired to feel emotions like loneliness.
They Do Not Take Care of Baby Turtles
In contrast to what you may think, female turtles are only interested in laying down their eggs. After laying down the eggs, the female turtles return to the ocean and never take care of their young.
The mothers also most likely will not recognize their babies. Some mothers even lay down their eggs near the alligator nests. It is a bit shocking, right?
In fact, the babies will be left to hatch and survive themselves. Many baby turtles die hours after they hatch due to being eaten by predators. To increase their chances of survival, these babies will choose to hatch and quickly migrate to the ocean as a group.
They Only Show Some Social Behavior During Mating
There are some social behaviors, however, especially when they want to mate. Male turtles will try to attract female turtles in a few ways such as biting their legs and head-bobbing.
It’s extremely rare to see turtles interact with another one unless it is for survival reasons. They are not actually in love with the female turtle as you may think.
Male turtles only mate due to natural instinct to pass down their genetics and will leave right after that.
What Are Some Activities They Do Together?
Reptiles like turtles are generally considered solitary animals. Although they preferred to be alone most of the time, they will congregate as a group especially during mating and breeding seasons to increase their chance of survival. From time to time, turtles also perform some activities together, let’s see what they do.
Basking
Turtles are mostly diurnal animals and they go basking every day. Usually, they will choose to bask together during day time. Aren’t they social animals in this sense?
Well, scientists found that turtles go basking together because this increases their chance of survival. The more turtles in the group, the higher chances to detect a predator beforehand.
This will help start their escape much sooner and greatly increase their chances of survival.
Migration
Turtles are one of the best migrators in the animal kingdom. During migrating seasons, both male and female turtles will travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to breed or lay down their eggs.
They travel in huge groups to scare off the predators in the journey. Here’s a fun fact… female turtles will actually go back to the exact beach where they were born to lay down the eggs.
Hatchling Migration
The eggs laid down by female turtles will come to a hatchling season. Once they are hatched, the intrinsic behavior of these babies will guide them to migrate from the nest to the ocean.
The baby turtles will migrate together in the direction of the ocean over 24 to 36 hours after they’re born. This phenomenon is also known as the “frenzy period”.
Migrating in a group will also increase their chances of survival than doing this individually. In fact, this is an inborn behavior of the turtles.
After they successfully move to the ocean and grow to young turtles, they will then separate and never meet again.
Do Turtles Socialize Well With Humans?
Turtles do not socialize well with humans, even if you’re their owner. However, they tend to associate you as a source of food.
When the same person feeds them every day, turtles can recognize the individual visually and also through smell. This doesn’t necessarily mean they know you as their owner.
It is a psychological process where the turtles know that your presence will bring them food. On the other hand, turtles can learn their names with the same principle.
If you call your turtle’s name every time before you feed it, it will eventually recognize its name. Then, your turtle may respond to its name by moving towards you when it hears it, as it associates the name with food.
How Can You Tell If Turtles Like You?
Despite being solitary animals, turtles sometimes do show some affection if they know you are harmless and are feeding them regularly. But their way of showing affection might be different from other animals.
Turtles will not go to you and start cuddling with you, right? So how do they show affection, and how can you tell if a turtle likes you?
They Show Curiosity of What You’re Doing
When they feel safe and contented, turtles tend to just sit in one spot and observe you. This means that they are curious about you. Like us, turtles tend to do this when they are affectionate. They will be interested in you when you’re nearby and it is definitely a good sign.
They Stretched Out Their Neck
You must know what a turtle will do when it is freaked out — they hide their head and limbs inside their shell. When you see your pet turtle stretch out its long neck in your presence, it is no doubt a sign of trust.
In this case, you may try to rub your turtles’ shell with your hand or a toothbrush. Be mindful that their shells are sensitive to touch and only rub them gently. Your turtle definitely trusts you with its life when it stretched out its neck in front of you.
They Come To You When You Are Near
As turtles can recognize you visually and also through smell, they can associate you as their food source. With this being said, your turtles might get a little excited when they sense your presence, hoping that you will treat them to some good meals.
If your turtles are allowed to roam freely in the garden, they might also follow you around to show that they like you (or your food). You can reinforce this behavior by gently talking, rubbing, and also feeding them their favorite treats.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, turtles are generally regarded as solitary animals. They prefer to live alone in the wild and will show aggression to other turtles or animals when they feel intruded on.
There are times when they perform some activities together and they include mating, migrating, and basking. As pets, turtles may associate you with food but it may not necessarily mean they like you.
However, if you are a pleasant person to them, they will show some signs that they trust and are curious about you. These include stretching out their neck in front of you and get excited when they know you are around.
Not only are turtles cute pets to have, but they are also fun to watch and interact with. So, don’t forget to socialize with your pet turtle from time to time!
