Weird noises can come from any of your pets, tortoises included, you may worry not only because you don’t expect tortoises to make clicking noises but because you think that the clicking noises mean that the animal is sick.
This article looks into why your tortoise is clicking its jaw
Table of Contents
Tortoise clicking jaw:
Tortoises vocalize, many may not know this but these animals vocalize quite often and there are a variety of sounds that these animals make, clicking is one of them.
Here is why your tortoise may be clicking its jaw:
Overgrown beak:
Tortoises don’t have jaws and teeth the same way that humans do, they actually have a beak just as birds do.
Just as with human beaks a tortoise’s jaw is made out of keratin and this keratin is always growing just as bird beaks do.
If your pet tortoise’s beak becomes overgrown then you may hear a clicking sound when the upper and lower part of the beak hit each other.
What to do:
Trimming your pet’s beak will solve the problem if the beak is overgrown.
You can take your pet to a professional who will trim your pet’s beak, or, you can help the animal file its beak on its own at home.
It is only recommended that you trim your pet’s beak at home if you have experience doing this.
When trimming, draw a line on the beak where you want to trim and then use a steel cuticle trimmer to trim the excess beak.
Be calm and do not panic as you do this, the animal may try to escape while you trim so keep this in mind.
You can also help the animal file its beak down on its own by giving it a cuttlebone as a fish supplement.
Giving the animal its meals on a rock or in clay pots will also help. Doing this will help wear the beak down naturally.
It is eating:
If your pet isn’t clicking its beak all the time, and only clicks its beak when it is eating, then your pet may simply be smacking when eating food and this may be what you’re hearing.
Tortoise beaks are quite strong and if the top and bottom beaks are slapped together hard, while the animal is eating, to break down food, then the slamming of the beaks will create a clicking sound.
What to do:
This is quite normal and happens to many tortoises, it isn’t something to worry about and you can let the animal be if you hear this,
However, you should worry if you see the animal’s behavior change for the worst, if the animal acts as though it is in distress, or if the animal starts to act sick.
If you see these changes in your tortoise then take your pet to the vet or better yet to a herp vet.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Baby Tortoise Crying Noise At Night Sick, Why Is My Turtle Making Clicking Noises?, Tortoise Making Whistling Noise When Eating, Tortoise Swollen Neck, Tortoise Making Whistling Noise, Tortoise Gasping, Baby Tortoise Gasping, Why Is My Tortoise Squeaking At Night?, Sulcata Tortoise Making Clicking Noise