In the breeding season (late October to early December) males have enlarged premaxillary teeth and truncated squarish snouts, which are round in females.

Four-toed salamanders undergo a relatively short aquatic larval period, when compared to other species of the same family, ranging between 3 and 6 weeks.

The third and final form of defense is curling up and putting its tail on its back, offering it in exchange for its life.

[7][8] This species' favored habitats are sphagnum bogs, grassy areas surrounding beaver ponds, and deciduous or mixed forests rich with mosses.

It overwinters in terrestrial habitat, using old burrows or cavities created by rotting roots, below the freezing depth.

It was believed that the different elements of its habitat (breeding, summer and overwintering) had to be within 100 m of each other, but recent observations might suggest this to be an underestimation.

[3] Four-toed salamanders feed mostly on small invertebrates, such as spiders, worms, ticks, springtails (collembola), ground beetles (Carabidae), and other insects.

When it feels threatened, H. scutatum will use autotomy (drops its tail, still wiggling) to distract the attention of predators.

[14] It is also listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN) due to the wide distribution and assumed large population.

[15] Its status in the United States ranges from Threatened (Illinois), to Endangered (Minnesota), to Special Concern (Wisconsin, Ohio, and Missouri).