Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a spotted turtle 4 yr old male that will not quit badgering the females trying to mate with them all the time. It had stressed the females out so much that I had to separate them from the male. I really would ratyher house them together and I was wondering if there was something I could do to slow the male down some IE water temp or diet

I used to have a male spotted that was just like yours. He tried breeding every chance he got. There are two solutions I found. One was the one you have already tried, separating them. As much as you don't want to separate them, as you have found, it does stress out the females to keep them together, and an over eager male can also prove hazardous if kept 24-7 with the females. Males often times bite at the females which can lead to the loss of a tail, toes, or toenails. Just put them back together when you want to breed them. The other "solution" if you would call it that, was giving it time. A male turtle in captivity who is kept with females all the time often becomes bored with them. The chance of breeding has become "too easy" and his interest just goes away. Especially if kept indoors. My Spotted males lost breeding interest in each other when kept indoors for a period of time, but as soon as I put them back into their natural outdoor pond setup they began breeding again. But then after being outside after awhile, the male got bored of the females again because he saw them too often. You questioned if the male might slow down with a cooler water temp. He might, but then again Spotteds are a cool weather species having been observed breeding in very cold water. Unless you are trying to give them a winter cooling period, if you do choose to cool the water, keep the UVA/UVB light on for about 12 hours a day so that their biological clock tells them that it is still summer even though the water is cooler. This is so their metabolism doesn't slow down too much, which can result in illness if the turtle is not naturally brumating which is parallel to decreased water temp and hours of light recieved. Good luck!
-Jordan