Turtles are known for their very slow and deliberate movements, but if the animal starts showing movements that are out of the ordinary then you may become puzzled.
Movements like the turtle walking in circles. This article looks into why your turtle may be walking in circles.
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Why is my turtle walking in circles?
Observing your turtle, and then investigating the potential reasons why the animal does what it does, is imperative if you want the animal to maintain good health.
Understanding and addressing why your turtle may be walking in circles is a must, here is why this may be happening with your pet:
It is bored:
One of the reasons why your pet turtle may be walking in circles may be that the animal is bored of its environment and wants to explore it, but can’t.
These animals, in the wild, have access to a lot of land where they can walk around in and look for food. The animals in your care will walk around the enclosure in order to get some exercise in
What to do:
If your pet is bored then consider making its space more enjoyable, if you can’t increase the quantity of space.
You can do this by adding more objects that will stimulate your pet while it is in the enclosure.
These objects include turtle-friendly toys, safe household items that are too big for the animal to eat, and natural items like turtle-friendly live plants, large water wishes, and branches.
What will also help is adding more walking surfaces like rocks and bark
You can also cure your pet of its boredom by allowing the animal to walk around your house or walk around your garden
It is pacing:
Turtles haven’t evolved to understand what glass is, if there is no opaque boundary in front of the animal then the turtle will try to explore and may walk into the glass.
Your pet will develop stress because it can’t escape the tank. This will make it pace back and forth and or walk in circles.
What to do:
You may get your pet a bigger enclosure. This won’t come close to how much space the animal would have in the wild, but getting a bigger tank for your pet will definitely help.
What you can do in the meantime is tape up the sides of your pet’s enclosure or add some cardboard to your pet’s enclosure so the animal knows that it is in an enclosed space
You can also allow your pet to roam around your house or garden
Injury:
If your pet’s paw is injured, or if it’s missing its paw, then this may be the reason why the animal is walking around in circles
What to do:
Taking your injured pet to the vet is recommended, not only will the injury cause the turtle pain but the injury may become infected if not cleaned and treated. So take your pet to the vet when you can
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 Swollen Foot, Why Does My Turtle Stretch His Neck And Open His Mouth, Why Is My Turtle Weak?, Why Is My Turtle Whining, Why Is My Turtle Mean?, Why Is My Turtle Water Brown, Why Is My Turtle Water Red?, Why Is My Turtle Water Yellow?, Why Is My Turtle Wheezing?,