Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today my tortoise started clicking it's mouth. I can't really think of a good way to word it other than she's snapping her upper and lower mouth. The lower part is coming over the top and making a clicking noise. She's been doing it all day (her box is close to my computer). Is this a bad sign? I'm taking her to the vet next week anyways for a possible URI infection, is this something that should be addressed?

HELLO
WHAT KIND OF TORTOISE?
DOING IT ALL THE TIME OR JUST SOMETIMES ?
SICK SOUNDING OR BREEDING BEHAVIOR?
THANKS
JEFF
PLANET REPTILES

Never heard of clicking sounds being part of a tortoise's breeding behavior. Interesting.

Jeff - what's up with the all cap messages?

Who cares about the all CAPS!!!! is it harder for you to read and WHAT kind OF tort ARE you TALKING about????

A lot of people including the original poster!

It is considered bad netiquette to use all caps.

Quote from Wikipedia osters are asked to re-read and edit their posting carefully before posting. The spelling, grammar, and capitalization should be checked. One should not be afraid about re-writing entire paragraphs. Typing in all capital letters usually denotes screaming or yelling, and this should be avoided. To convey emphasis in a less drastic manner, one may use these effects: *bold*, /italics/, and _underline_. When posting humorous or sarcastic comments, it is conventional to append an emoticon, but it is suggested that emoticons should not be overused.

I know this is all a bit anal. But the "all caps person" may not know others find his posts difficult to read.

Life goes on...

Whoa, crazy caps there! Kinda scared me. Haha. Anyways, she didn't do it today. She's doing much better, and she's particularly happy after I gave her some baby corn. Do the ends of the lower and upper jaw grow, similar to a rodents teeth?

They do grow, but tend to wear down with variety in diet. Since you are going to the vet have them take a look. The beak may need a trim, which can be done quickly and easily in the office.

BTW, what type of tort do you have and how old is it? Can you post a pic. of its head?

Sometimes they do make a clicking sound and will even trumpet for you. It can depend on age, sex, and time of the year. When my Bell's starts "talking" it sounds like a baby cooing or a cat mewing.

hello
they are like fingernails
easily trimmed with clippers
glad it wasn't serious
jeff
planet reptiles