Owning a pet is lovely, you have a companion for the animal’s life and you get to watch it grow and evolve, the downside of this is that you will eventually have to watch the animal act oddly and even become sick
This article looks into one odd behavior that your pet turtle may do, ie rubbing its head.
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Why is my turtle rubbing its head?
Your turtle rubbing its head out of the blue will understandably be quite perplexing, but, it’s important to understand why your pet does this before racing to start to worry about the animal.
Here is why your turtle may be rubbing its head:
It’s an itch:
If your pet turtle rubs its head on occasion then the animal’s skin may be itchy sometimes.
Your pet turtle may become itchy for a variety of reasons including insufficient humidity, parasites, or something scratching its skin once and causing discomfort
Parasites on your pet turtle’s skin may linger for a while and cause skin irritation.
If the animal’s environment is chronically dry then dry skin may develop on the reptile’s head and elsewhere on the animal’s body.
Something scratching your pet’s skin may cause a once-off itch on the animal’s head
What to do:
If your pet scratches its head once or only on occasion then you don’t have anything to worry about, your pet should be fine after it scratches the itch.
If your pet’s environment is too dry then you may want to consider getting a humidifier for your pet’s room or spraying the animal enclosure with water.
If you suspect that your pet has parasites then take the reptile to the vet.
It’s shedding its skin:
Another reason why your pet may be scratching its head may simply be because it is shedding its skin. Humans and turtles shed their old dead skin cells to make way for new fresh skin cells.
This is a normal thing that happens but may be uncomfortable for the animal and this may make the animal rub its head.
What to do:
There isn’t much you can do for your pet in this scenario, you can simply let the animal be and let it continue scratching itself. The skin shedding may go on for a while so the scratching may go on for a while
What you can do is make sure the humidity in your pet’s enclosure is satisfactory so the animal doesn’t feel too much discomfort as its old skin cells fall off.
Also, keep an eye on the animal, if the reptile shows signs of illness or discomfort then take your pet to the vet.
Eye irritation:
If your pet turtle rubs its head close to its eyes or directly on its eyes, then the animal’s eyes may feel irritated.
This is common and can happen if you put the reptile back in its tank before you dechlorinate the water.
What to do:
The remedy for this is simple, you can keep your pet from developing irritated eyes by dechlorinating the water before you put your pet in. This water will be more comfortable on the animal’s eyes
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: Turtle Kicking Legs While Basking, Red-Eared Slider Scratching Head, Why Is My Turtle Rubbing His Eyes, Why Does My Turtle Twitch While Basking, Why Is My Turtle Spazzing?, Why Is My Tortoise Twitching?, Why Is One Turtle Bigger Than The Other?, Why Is My Turtle Jumping, Tortoise Head Twitching
