Many animals have tails, and animals like lizards, salamanders, newts, fish, and turtles have tails, your turtle uses its tail to navigate in the water just as other semi-aquatic animals do.
But what if something goes wrong with the tail? What if it becomes curled? and why would this happen? This article looks into why your turtle’s tail is curled.
Table of Contents
Why is my turtle’s tail curled?
Every body part on your turtle’s body is there for a reason, if something is wrong with any of your pet’s body parts then the quality of your pet’s life will decline, so you may start to worry if the animal’s tail becomes curved.
Here is why your turtle tail is curled:
Frightened:
These animals have a variety of ways in which they communicate the feeling of being frightened, one of these ways is a curling of their tail.
A turtle who curls its tail isn’t frightened per se, it isn’t really scared, it is slightly frightened.
A turtle that is really scared will put its head and legs into its shell, a turtle who curls its tail is only slightly frightened.
Your pet may be scared of a predator, a human, or, the animal may be sick or uncomfortable, all this will make the animal a little afraid and cause it to curl its tail.
What to do:
If something is frightening your turtle then you’d need to put the animal back into its enclosure where it’s safe and sound. The tail will go back to normal once the animal is relaxed.
Keep an eye on your pet and see if you can find what is frightening it, once the threat has been found get it away from your turtle.
Male turtle:
If your turtle’s tail is curved to one side, and your turtle is male, then this may be happening because your turtle is a male. Male turtles generally carry their tail off to one side.
What to do:
As long as your pet is healthy and happy, and doesn’t show any signs of being ill, then your pet should be fine, this is normal behavior for male turtles
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’s Tail Swollen?, Why Did My Turtle’s Tail Fall Off?, Why Does My Tortoise Wag Its Tail?, Why Is My Turtle’s Tail Tucked In?, Why Does My Turtle Keep Opening His Mouth?, Why Is My Turtle’s Mouth Bleeding?, Why Do Turtle’s Eyes Turn White?, What’s Wrong With My Turtle’s Eyes?, Why Is My Tortoise Blowing Bubbles From His Mouth?