Why do tortoises bob their heads

Therefore, seemingly exaggerated neck, head, and limb movements help the tortoise breathe with ease. Also, sometimes, when they are both excited and breathing, it can give the impression of head bobbing. This is especially true if the pet keeps being friendly during and after the movements. Sometimes, the movement may indicate a more issue.

There are situations when head bobbing occurs due to respiratory issues or a blockage. When respiratory distress is the problem, you should hear different noises like whistling or squeaking, as well as wheezy sounds.

Wet secretions or bubbles around the nose should also be a cause for concern, and you should take the tortoise to a vet immediately. On successfully removing the object you would of course need to follow up with a vet immediately.

You may notice head bobbing starting at any age. Younger tortoises may do it too, but some owners have declared that their tortoises only started doing it at around the age of It may also be a rock, shoe, or anything of the sort.

Some tortoise species may bob their heads more compared to others. Moreover, Male Spur Thighed tortoises are more likely to ram a female tortoise during courtship behavior.

Incidentally, these are just some of the good reasons why you may want to think very carefully before you consider homing more than one tortoise in the same enclosure. Tortoises can bob their heads for a whole range of reasons: out of excitement, aggression, the desire to mate or show dominance, or because of obstruction to their airway or other potentially life-threatening reasons. This will tell you whether you should be concerned or not.

Worm count tests are absolutely worthwhile for tortoises, especially prior to, and following, hibernation. Posted September 28, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites. Lacuna Cobra. Posted September 29, Mine do that when I talk to them!

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Register a new account. Sign in Already have an account? Sign In Now. Sign in to follow this Followers 0. These scuffles involve a lot of running after each other, plowing into each other and head nodding. The objective in these rather bizarre confrontations often is to turn one's opponents upside-down. Once this happens, the defeated individual usually gets back on his feet again -- literally -- and flees the demoralizing situation.

Occasionally, defeated desert tortoises die from being turned over in this manner. Once the beaten male desert tortoise is out of the picture, the victor can begin the job of wooing the female. Strangely, a lot of these wooing signals are similar to those of the breeding battles, such as the nodding up and down of the head.

Apart from nodding, the males nip the females, make whistling sounds at them, walk around them over and over, plow into them and push into their sides using their heads. When male desert tortoises nod and put on the full courtship show, they often receive little reaction from the females at first. The females often initially feign oblivion to the entire ritual.