# Sulcata twitches



## stone09 (Feb 9, 2012)

We have had our tortoise (Smitty) for about three months now. He or she twitches (looks like a hiccup). Should I be concerned? One more question. The diet consists of the grass pellets that come in the bottle at Pet Smart. Smitty likes these, we will every once in a while mix in shredded kale and carrots. We also keep a small piece of cuddle bone in there.  Does this sound okay?

Thank you.


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## dmarcus (Feb 10, 2012)

Hello and welcome to the forum...

I think you need to give your tortoise a more varied diet. More dark leafy greens like collard, etc. You can also buy spring mix from the grocery store and feed that maybe even some cactus. 

The twitch is new to me and maybe someone else has encountered that before...


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## dmmj (Feb 10, 2012)

I would also suggest switching to more of a greens diet.
In regards to the twitching it could be him simply breathing, does it look like he is pumping his arms?


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## cemmons12 (Feb 10, 2012)

My sully Cooper does the twitching thing from time to time also, so I wouldn't be very concerned as of now. And I would add a lot of different dark leafy greens. Turnip, mustard, kale, arugula, and let him graze the yard if weather permits. There is a thread on here about good foods for Sulcatas. Also you can go here to learn more http://africantortoise.com Good luck to u both!


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Feb 10, 2012)

dmmj said:


> In regards to the twitching it could be him simply breathing, does it look like he is pumping his arms?



Agreed. What looks like a hiccup to some people is really just the tortoise breathing. Amphibians and reptiles don't have a diaphragm like we mammals do, so they either use a buccal pump (throat pouch), limb movements, or rib cage contractions to force air in and out of the lungs. In the case of turtles, their rib cage is fused into a shell, so they rely only on buccal pumping and limb movements to breathe. The only quasi-exception to this is turtles with a hinge somewhere on their shell, like box turtles and hingebacks. They can move their shell up and down to help them breathe as well (almost like a rib cage).

Sometimes tortoises like to rest their chin on their plastron (bottom shell). When they do that, they may continue to breathe with their throat pouch, causing the head to move up and down a bit. So, it may look like a hiccup, but it's just breathing and it's perfectly normal. We get that question all the time around here.


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## Laura (Feb 10, 2012)

I agree.. better diet is called for. Cuttle bone is good IF he eats it.. if not he needs something more. What about real sunlight? does he see any of that? Water source? 
you will learn a lot here.. dont get too overwhlemed..


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## stone09 (Feb 10, 2012)

Thank you everyone.

Smitty does chew on the cuttle bone every once in awhile. I also will shave some onto his food. He likes kale and romaine lettuce with shredded carrots. I feed this every once in awhile and then switch back to the Zoo Med grass pellets. He is in a 20 gallon size tank now with some coconut substrate. He is soaked three times a week and has a little hid box to cool down in.

When he twitches it does look like he is pumping his arms. I'm used to beardies so something with a shell has me nervous hehe but very excited to have Smitty. I thank everyone so much for the helpful information and I look forward to learning from all of you.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Feb 11, 2012)

stone09 said:


> When he twitches it does look like he is pumping his arms. I'm used to beardies so something with a shell has me nervous hehe but very excited to have Smitty. I thank everyone so much for the helpful information and I look forward to learning from all of you.



Yep, tortoises have to pump their throat pouch and arms to breathe, because their rib cage is immovable.


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## tortuga_please (Feb 11, 2012)

Welcome! Mix the diet up a little bit, other than that sounds good. Do you have any pics?


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## EKLC (Feb 12, 2012)

wow he actually eats those zoo med grassland pellets? Mine doesn't even consider them food. Wish he did, they seem to be pretty high in fiber


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## Arizona Sulcata (Feb 12, 2012)

I agree, I personally prefer a more "green" diet for my torts. Also my phylosophy is that variety wins everytime. As far as the twitching goes, not sure what to tell you. Sounds like other members think its mistaken for breathing, don't know what to add to that. Good luck I hope all is well!


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