Watching kids blow bubbles can be quite cute, but watching animals, like raccoons or dogs, make bubbles is quite concerning, reason being is that the appearance of bubbles in your dog’s or raccoon’s mouth can signal rabies, but what about in turtles?
This article looks into why your tortoise is blowing bubbles from its mouth
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Why is my tortoise blowing bubbles from his mouth?
Odd behavior in your tortoise is cause for concern and the animal blowing bubbles from its mouth is an example of odd behavior.
Here is why your tortoise may be blowing bubbles from its mouth:
Overheating:
One reason why bubbles may start to appear in your tortoise’s mouth may be that the animal is overheating.
Even though tortoises are known to live in hot climates they can still overeat if an environment isn’t suitable for them.
Another sign that your pet is overheating is the animal trying to hide under something, this is the animal’s way of trying to get away from the heat.
What to do:
If the temperature in your pet’s environment is too hot then take away the heat lamp, this will quickly drop the temperature.
You can permanently change the animal’s environment, by using moss in the enclosure. Adding moss will aid in maintaining humidity which will help regulate the animal’s body temperature.
Once you’ve reduced the temperature in your pet’s enclosure give your pet a good soak, use tepid water to soak the animal in. Soak the animal for about 15-30 minutes.
Make sure that the animal’s head doesn’t go underwater during the soak, you may need to hold your pet’s head up while it’s soaking if it is too weak to hold its own head up
Tip: When cooling the animal down don’t cool the animal down too quickly, this will be a shock to the animal’s system.
Respiratory infection:
If bubbles start coming out of your tortoise’s mouth then this may mean that the animal is suffering from an upper respiratory infection.
Just like when babies have a cold, and blow bubbles at their nose when they exhale, turtles with respiratory infections will do the same.
The bubbles that you see are formed by air escaping from the animal’s nasal passage bubbling into the mucus, the mucus is caused by the infection.
If this condition is not treated, if the illness is left to evolve, then the infection will turn into pneumonia very quickly and the animal will succumb to it
What to do:
It is strongly advised that you take the animal to the vet for an examination and testing if you think that your pet has this condition.
Another reason why you need to take your pet to the vet is that the animal may need breathing treatments like oxygen and it may need antibiotics, these are available at the vet.
You’d need to take your pet to a herp vet, this is a vet who deals with exotic pets, tortoises included. Not all vets are qualified and experienced with tortoises so be careful as to who you go to.
Keep your pet warm and isolated until you can get it to the vet and keep it warm and isolated during its recovery
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: Why Is My Turtle’s Tail Swollen?, Why Did My Turtle’s Tail Fall Off?, Why Is My Turtle’s Tail Curled?, Why Does My Tortoise Wag Its Tail?, Why Is My Turtle’s Tail Tucked In?, Why Does My Turtle Keep Opening His Mouth?, Why Is My Turtle’s Mouth Bleeding?, Why Do Turtle’s Eyes Turn White?, What’s Wrong With My Turtle’s Eyes?,