Any sort of panicked behavior coming from your turtle may make you wonder and think that something is wrong with the animal, panicked behavior is definitely not normal.
This article is a look into why your turtle may randomly be freaking out
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Why does my turtle randomly freak out?
Watching your turtle freak out can be quite distressing, seeing your pet clawing and swimming madly against the tank may cause you to panic too.
Here is why your turtle is randomly freaking out:
Handling:
If you pick your pet up, or if someone else picks your pet up, and the animal starts to freak out, then the animal may be freaking out because it is being picked up.
Being picked up is not normal or natural for turtles, these animals would only be picked up in the wild if they were being handled by a predator who wanted to eat them.
Turtles see humans as giant monsters, at least initially, so they would understandably freak out when you pick them up
If you regularly try to pick up the animal, then it will regularly freak out while having a panic attack because it is trying to get away from you
What to do:
Putting your pet down will get it to calm down and stop freaking out.
Leave your pet alone in its enclosure and dim the lights in its room so it has the chance to calm down.
If you want to interact with the animal, start off by waiting and watching it, at the door of the room, so the animal can see that you aren’t there to hurt it.
Get closer to the tank over time and leave food in the tank for the turtle as the animal watches.
Doing this should get the animal used to your presence. Your pet will allow you to interact with it once it is comfortable with you
Keep in mind, that turtles aren’t like cats and dogs so they don’t need to be comforted or picked up, this only frightens them
It is frightened:
If your pet turtle is frightened, is freaking out, and is swimming into the glass of the enclosure, then this means that the animal is scared of something, likely a sudden loud noise, your dog, your cat, or a new human in the room.
The threat doesn’t have to physically touch the turtle for the reptile to get scared and freak out.
Your pet turtle will swim into the glass barrier because it doesn’t realize that there is a glass barrier in front of it.
The animal only swims into the barrier because it wants to get away, and get as far away, as possible.
What to do:
These animals don’t realize that they can’t get past the glass so you’ll have to apply a solid colored tape on the glass walls to show the animal that there is a barrier in front of it.
If your dogs/cats are in the same room as your turtle then keep them separate to keep the turtle calm.
Avoid bringing new people into your pet turtle’s room and don’t let new people touch your pet turtle