If you find yourself reading this article then you are likely quite perplexed by the curious phenomenon that is your turtle making whistling sounds from time to time, and you may want to figure out why this is happening.
This article looks into why your pet turtle makes whistling sounds.
Table of Contents
Why is my turtle whistling?
Turtles aren’t exactly well known for their vocal abilities, like other animals are, but some turtle species are known to make unexpected noises from time to time, including whistling sounds.
If you’re a turtle owner, and you’re scratching your head because your pet is making this sound, then read on.
Normal breathing:
Some turtles whistle when breathing, this whistling from the turtle may be heard when the animal is sleeping and it may be heard when the animal is awake.
Some turtle owners note that this sound is mainly made when the animal is happy but it can also be made when the turtle is feeling neutral, it can happen after each breath and when the male turtle scents.
Generally, the larger your pet is the deeper this whistling sound gets so don’t be alarmed if this happens as the animal gets older and larger.
What to do:
This is something that is pretty common in turtles, as long as the whistling is not accompanied by signs of illness or distress then your pet is likely perfectly fine and you don’t have to worry about it.
Dehydration:
Another reason why your turtle may be whistling may be because the animal is dehydrated.
You’ll know that this is the reason behind the whistling if you rehydrate the animal, and observe it to see if the whistling continues, and the whistling does not continue.
What to do:
Try to rehydrate the animal to see if this cures the whistling. You can do this by adding more water bowls in the enclosure for the turtle to drink out of, fill these up with clean fresh water.
Soaking your pet will also help, this will moisten the animal’s skin, your pet will also drink the water while soaking.
You can also feed the animal more water-rich foods like red grapes, kiwi, tomatoes, melon, romaine lettuce, strawberries, and cucumbers.
Respiratory infections:
One of the other reasons why your pet turtle may be making whistling sounds may be because the animal is suffering from a respiratory infection.
Respiratory infections affect the animals breathing and the effect of this may be a whistling when breathing.
Other signs of a respiratory infection, apart from the whistling sounds, include nose discharge, eye discharge, mouth discharge, a white residue on the animal’s neck, breathing difficulties, and lethargy.
What to do:
If you think that your pet has a respiratory infection, if you notice signs of this condition in your pet, then you should take your pet to the vet.
Quarantining your pet turtle if you can’t immediately get it to the vet is also recommended. Keeping this sick turtle away from the other turtles will keep the healthy turtles from becoming infected with the disease.
If you don’t take your pet to the vet then the respiratory infection may develop and turn into pneumonia.
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 Yawning Underwater?, Why Are My Turtles Eyes Closed, Why Is My Turtle Red?, Why Is My Turtle Pink?, Why Is My Turtle Twitching, Why Is My Turtle Eating Sand?, Why Is My Turtle Restless?, Why Is My Turtle Yawning?, Why Is My Turtle Tank Foaming?,