Your turtle will express different bodily movements for different reasons, one odd body movement that you may see in your turtle is opening its mouth underwater
This article looks into why your turtle may be opening its mouth underwater.
Table of Contents
Why does my turtle open its mouth underwater?
Turtles aren’t known to breathe underwater like other sea animals. They are known to come to the surface to breathe, so your turtle opening its mouth underwater will understandably seem quite odd to you.
Here is why your turtle may be opening its mouth underwater:
It’s a musk turtle:
While most turtles cannot breathe underwater some turtles can, the musk turtle for example can breathe underwater.
These types of turtles can breathe through their tongue so they will leave their mouth open underwater to expose their tongue in order to breathe.
These types of turtles are also known to stay underwater for months at a time because they can breathe happily underwater using their tongue.
What to do:
Musk turtles are quite a popular turtle to own and you may be one of the people who are raising this type of turtle.
If you’ve just started raising this type of turtle don’t be alarmed or concerned that it is opening its mouth under water, this is normal for this type of reptile.
Smelling/catching food:
Not only can musk turtles breathe through their tongues, they also keep their mouths open to smell and catch food.
This open-mouth behavior will more so be seen once you drop food into the enclosure.
The reptile will leave its mouth open in murky water where it can’t see food well. Leaving its mouth open helps your pet smell food, smelling the food helps it hunt.
Once a fish swims in front of the turtle the turtle will shut its mouth catching the fish.
What to do:
This behavior may seem quite odd to you at first but you’ll get used to it, the opening of the mouth is normal for this type of turtle.
As long as your pet isn’t showing any sign of illness or distress along with this behavior then your pet will be fine, you can let the turtle be.
Respiratory infection:
Your musk turtle may also be opening its mouth underwater because it has some sort of respiratory infection.
Respiratory infections can develop in turtles who live in enclosures that have environmental irritants, sub-optimal humidity, or sub-optimal temperatures, they can also develop in turtles who are exposed to fungi, bacteria, or parasites.
Other signs of respiratory infections in your pet, in addition to open-mouth breathing, include blowing bubbles, increased respiratory sounds, abnormal body posture, lethargy, oral or nasal discharge
Respiratory infections are quite common in these reptiles but a turtle that catches a respiratory infection needs to be seen and treated as soon as possible.
What to do:
There are a variety of respiratory infections that your pet may be suffering from, for this reason, it is advised that you quickly take your pet to an experienced vet who can quickly diagnose and treat it.
This is recommended over trying to diagnose and treat the turtle yourself at home.
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: Red-Eared Slider Breathing Heavily, Turtle Blowing Bubbles Out Of His Mouth, Red Eared Slider Biting At Air, Tortoise Keeps Opening And Closing Its Mouth, Why Does My Turtle Open Its Mouth When I Pick It Up?, Turtle Opening Mouth While Basking, Why Is My Turtle Shell Turning Brown?