Seeing your turtle show negative behavior, like seeing lethargy in your turtle, can be a worrying sight. Lethargy and weakness in your pet are usually signs that something is up.
However, it’s important to know what’s going on before jumping to conclusions. This article looks into why your turtle is weak.
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Why is my turtle weak?
A caring turtle raiser will be able to notice changes in the turtle, and offer help to the animal, as soon as signs of distress are seen in the animal.
Changes in your turtle’s behaviour, particularly when signs of weakness and lethargy are seen, is cause for concern.
Here are some reasons why this may be happening with your pet.
Poor diet:
The health of your pet is mostly dependent on the diet of the animal. A good diet will usually mean good health and a bad diet will usually mean poor health and this may be what’s happening with your pet.
If your pet is lacking in vitamins or calcium then this can show up as weakness
What to do:
A well-rounded diet will help get your turtle’s energy back to normal levels, while your pet may not have the energy of say a dog, it will have the energy of a normal healthy turtle
Illness:
Illness can also be the cause of the weakness in your pet turtle. Weakness is a symptom of a variety of illnesses including metabolic bone disease and respiratory infections.
If your pet is sick other symptoms will also start to develop, you will start to see these symptoms over time as the condition worsens.
Other signs of metabolic bone disease include deformities in the shell, other signs of respiratory infections in turtles include labored breathing, discharge from the nose or mouth, and gasping for air
What to do:
Figuring out what illness your pet has will take you some time, time that your pet does not have.
In addition, your pet may need tests done for a diagnosis to be made, these can not be done at home, for this reason, it is recommended that you take your pet to the vet for an examination and treatment
Dehydration:
Another reason why your turtle may be weak may simply be that the animal is dehydrated.
Not having access to enough water bodies or an insufficient water intake can cause your pet turtle to become dehydrated. One sign of dehydration in your pet turtle is weakness.
What to do:
Giving your pet access to water bodies, clean fresh drinking water, and water such foods should combat your pet’s dehydration.
Old age:
Another reason why your pet turtle is becoming weaker and weaker is because the animal is simply getting older.
Just as with human bodies turtle bodies will experience wear and tear as the animal gets older and this may show up as the turtle becomes weaker the older it gets.
What to do:
While you can’t help the turtle age backward what you can do is offer extra care to the aging turtle in the latter part of its life. Also, make sure that the environment is comfortable for the elderly animal
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 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?, Why Is My Turtle Walking In Circles