Many people don’t know this, many turtle owners included, but turtles can make sounds, these animals actually make a variety of sounds. But your pet making sounds all of a sudden may be quite startling to you.
One sound that turtles can make is a clicking noise. This article looks into why your turtle is making clicking noises.
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Why is my turtle making clicking noises?
Turtles don’t have vocal cords like humans do but this doesn’t mean that they can’t make sounds, clicking sounds included, they actually make clicking sounds very often.
Here is why your turtle may be making clicking sounds.
It is eating:
One of the reasons why your pet turtle will make a clicking sound may be because the animal is chewing.
While these animals don’t have teeth they can still be heard chewing. Their feeding behaviors produce clicking sounds, you can hear clicking noises when their bottom and top jaws hit each other
What to do:
This is a common behavior among turtles, many turtles do this and it isn’t something that you should worry yourself about, you don’t have to think that there is something wrong with your pet if it does this
As long as the animal isn’t showing signs of distress, or being ill and isn’t changing its behavior as it makes these sounds then the animal should be fine.
Mating:
Turles can also make clicking sounds as a part of their mating behavior, the animals can act oddly during the breeding season and will produce a lot of odd sounds, clicking sounds included.
The male turtles usually make these sounds, he will make these sounds to show off his strength and fitness to the female turtles so she will mate with him.
He will also make these clicking noises while searching for a partner during the breeding season.
What to do:
This is normal behavior and isn’t something to worry about
You should only start to worry if the animal starts showing signs of distress, illness, or a negative change in behavior along with the clicking
It is dehydrated:
The final reason why your pet turtle may be making these clicking sounds may be that the animal is dehydrated.
Clicking sounds, as a result of dehydration, can usually be heard while the animal is basking. It’s kind of a “tsk tsk” sound and this sound will come from the animal’s mouth.
It’s a sign that your pet needs more water in its water body.
Other signs of dehydration in our pet turtle include sunken eyes, a loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, a sunken shell, dry skin, and lethargy.
What to do:
Dehydration is quite serious in turtles but thankfully it can easily be remedied at home.
Start off by soaking the reptile in some warm shallow water for 30-60 minutes, the water will rehydrate the animal’s skin and your pet will likely drink the water that it is soaking in
Next make sure that your pet always has clean, fresh water to drink and water-rich foods to eat.
Increase the humidity in your pet’s enclosure by using a humidifier or spraying your pet’s enclosure
If the animal becomes too dehydrated then you may need to take the animal to the vet where it will be given fluids.
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, Tortoise Making Whistling Noise When Eating, Tortoise Clicking Jaw, Tortoise Swollen Neck, Tortoise Making Whistling Noise, Tortoise Gasping, Baby Tortoise Gasping, Why Is My Tortoise Squeaking At Night?, Sulcata Tortoise Making Clicking Noise