Turtle Biting Shell (1 Reason Why + What To Do)

Any type of biting will likely be quite concerning to you as a turtle owner, especially if your turtle is biting its own shell.

This article looks into why your turtle may be biting its own shell.

Table of Contents

Turtle biting shell

Turtles will bite almost anything, even their own shells, and you may understandably be confused as to why they do this.

Here is why your turtle may bite its own shell:

While the shell may be a strong and sturdy part of your turtle it can break and things can make their way under the shell.

Your pet’s shell is made out of the same material that human nails are made out of, keratin.

Humans can feel if something is under our nails and turtles can feel if something is stuck under their shell.

If there is something stuck under your pet’s shell then the animal may bite its shell out of discomfort and to try to get the thing out.

Turtles in the wild are generally able to bite out whatever is stuck under their shells and so do domestic turtles.

You have the option of leaving the animal to remove the object itself or you can intervene.

If you choose to let the animal be, then let your turtle continue to bite itself and remove the object itself.

This way of removing the object may take a little while but your pet should eventually remove the object on its own.

You can alternatively try to get the object out of the shell yourself. Use a pair of tweezers to remove the foreign object from your pet’s shell.

It’s advised that you apply a layer of polysporin to the wound using a q-tip after you remove the object.

Turtle Biting Shell (1 Reason Why + What To Do)