Are turtles cannibals? See if turtles eat other turtles!
Turtles are known to eat almost everything that lands near their mouth. Since they are omnivores, it is possible to eat plenty of plants (Can your turtles eat eceberg lettuce?) or vegetables and be satisfied with their meal. Nonetheless, turtles also love meat (turkey meat for turtles?) and it doesn’t matter whether it’s fish or slug – they will surely enjoy some additional protein, especially if it is relatively slow and won’t be a hassle to find it. But what about other types of meat?-> did you know that turtles enjoy eating snails? Is it possible for turtles to eat… turtle meat? Well, yes. Sometimes turtles are cannibals.
Obviously, it is not as straightforward as one may think. It is not their prefered way of getting all the nutritional values they need. However, if there is a need for food and they are unable to find anything else, then these reptiles will not be picky and they will surely enjoy a good chunk of turtle’s head. But how often do turtles resort to cannibalism? Is the need the only reason for them to do that? What about the babies? How to prevent such a behavior from occurring?
Well, you probably have a lot of questions about the subject matter. That is why you will definitely appreciate the article I prepared for you this time. Here, you can find a lot of interesting information regarding the cannibalistic behaviors that turtles tend to distinguish. Besides the reasons for becoming a cannibal, I will also tell you about the relationship between cannibalism and the hatchling or simply eggs of the turtles. Obviously, I will also share some solutions to this issue.
What can cause cannibalism among turtles?
Turtles may eat other turtles for a wide range of reasons. Some of them are more popular than the others, but it is still important to remember that if we do not address all the issues, sooner or later you may find yourself in a situation, where a turtle will try to eat another one or, what is more probable, it will take a closer look at the eggs or hatchlings. Here are the most popular reasons for turtle cannibalism:
The tank is overcrowded
Keeping too many turtles in one tank, which at the same time does not offer appropriate size, is one of the most often reasons why turtles may turn cannibalistic. You see, these reptiles are solitary animals, so spending time with others is not something they appreciate. If we add to this the fact that the tank size is not suitable for more than one turtle, then we have a serious problem on our hands.
One of the easiest ways to see whether cannibalistic behaviors are the result of the overcrowded tank is by looking at the volume of the tank. It is said that your turtles should have at least 10 gallons of water for every inch of their shell. So, two turtles that are 8-inch each should have a tank with the capacity of 160 gallons of water. A tank that is too congested is the main reason for fights among the turtles and, sooner or later, such a fight will end up with a dead turtle.
Mating issues
If there are two males fighting for a female, then we can be definitely certain that sooner or later the fights over dominance will end up with one turtle dead – usually it is the smaller one that loses because of smaller weight and, therefore, because of smaller chance of overturning the other turtles upside down.
Mating is incredibly important for all the animals and turtles are no exception. Natural aggression that these reptiles are characterized with will simply lead to fights in order to show who the real boss in the tank is. There were even situations where during fights the turtle lost its head by decapitation and, the winner, decided to treat the opponent’s head as a meal.
No food
Another important reason for such a behavior to occur is not enough food that turtles have. One of the reasons why turtles were able to survive millions of years is because they did everything necessary to prevent their extinction. It also meant eating other representatives of the species if there was no food around them. Shortage of veggies or meat will definitely force turtles to resort to cannibalism. If we have several turtles in one tank, then the first indication that there is not enough food is eating dead turtles.
Another step in the cannibalistic process is picking on baby turtles and the ones that are significantly smaller. After that, they will simply look for anything to hunt and eat. If you decide to keep smaller and bigger turtles in the same tank or at the same pond, then make sure that they have an appropriate amount of food, so they do not hunt smaller reptiles.
Unfortunately, a large difference between the size of turtles may be the sole reason why the bigger ones are hunting smaller ones. You see, this is their natural instinct to consider smaller turtles as prey and nothing else. As a result, there is a high chance that big turtles, even if they receive enough space, food, and there is no threat nearby, will try to grab the smaller turtles, bite them, and even try to decapitate them.
What about the babies? Will turtles eat hatchlings?
Sadly, almost every species will eat baby turtles. To make things even worse, they will hunt on their own eggs just as well. We can’t blame them for that, because there is no such thing as a maternal or paternal duty among the turtles. They are not great parents, since after a female lays her eggs, she doesn’t care about small turtles. The same thing concerns males. Therefore, eating babies – no matter if it’s hers or not – is pretty normal as far as looking for food alternatives. Interestingly, it is said that snapping turtles are believed to be much more prone to cannibalistic behavior than other species. This might be connected with their above average aggression.
How to make sure your turtles won’t eat each other?
First of all, do not put very small turtles in the same tank with gigantic ones. They will most definitely treat them as a snack. Furthermore, make sure that there is plenty of food around and that each individual receives its daily amount of nutritional values.
Another important thing to remember is to keep the right number of turtles in one tank. If it is a relatively small habitat, then you should never keep too many turtles. Even if they do not decide to eat each other, they will most definitely fight for dominance and for the area, and that may result in the death of a weaker turtle.
Also, turtles don’t like competition as far as females are concerned. So, make sure you don’t put two males with one female, because sooner or later it may end up with a decapitation of another turtle. Also, make sure that the tank is very large – at least 10 gallons for every inch of the turtle’s shell.
Now you know if turtles are cannibals!
Turtles are definitely cannibals and they can attack not only adult tank mates, but also babies. Interestingly, even turtle eggs are not safe because sooner or later the mother will eat some of them. Fortunately for you and for your reptiles, it is possible to decrease the amount of turtles that go cannibal. Keeping reptiles safe from cannibalistic behaviors is surely not easy, but it’s also not the hardest tasks out there.
No one wants to risk the life of another turtle simply because there have been issues with the tank, the feeding, or the number of turtles kept in one tank. Besides that, quite often turtles eat each other because of the huge difference in their sizes. Once you fix all the issues described above, there will be no reasons for a reptile to attack another reptile.
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