# Tortoise clicking



## loyolaboy98 (Jun 5, 2013)

My tortoise clicks ocasionaly when he breathes, i listened to him once when i was holding him yesterday and i could hear it. Then it stopped for a minute or 2, then i could hear it again, is he sick? Is this why he hasnt been moving very much? I took him to the vet a couple days ago cuz i just got him and he said he was ok. If he is sick how do i help him.


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## JoesMum (Jun 5, 2013)

If you search these forums, you will find lots of threads just like yours. It's normal


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## loyolaboy98 (Jun 6, 2013)

Ok thank you.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jun 6, 2013)

Do you hear the clicks when he closes his mouth? If so, then it's normal, and he's doing it intentionally. It's called stridulation, and it's like the chirping of crickets: rubbing two parts of the body together to create a vibration and make a sound. In this case, the animal is rubbing its upper and lower beak together. All tortoises and box turtles - perhaps even all chelonians - can do this, but no one is sure why. It seems like a form of communication, but we don't know what information is being conveyed.


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## russianhenry (Jun 6, 2013)

Lola clicks at night sometimes


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jun 6, 2013)

I've kept box turtles, a redfoot, and now Russians, and when I do hear them clicking, it seems to be when they are nestled safely and comfortably in a pallet or scrape that they've excavated for themselves. I would speculate that this clicking/croaking sound is a way for them to advertise their position to other turtles, perhaps as a signal to say, "This is my spot. Stay away." But then, it could also be an invitation, as if to say, "I am in my spot. Come on over." I just don't know, but they do seem to make the sound when they are comfortable.


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## TxTortMan (Jun 6, 2013)

One of my sulcats makes the clicking noise but only one Iâ€™ve never heard the other doing it. Whenever the noise is made it seems like a time whenever he is separated from my other one, like when soaking or if like mentioned above heâ€™s in his own hide and seems content being there.


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## loyolaboy98 (Jun 6, 2013)

I heard it when he was sleeping in a little burrow he built. I only hear it at night.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jun 6, 2013)

loyolaboy98 said:


> I heard it when he was sleeping in a little burrow he built. I only hear it at night.



I've heard them make that sound at night and during the day. They've made it while feeding, basking, and resting in their pallet or cave, almost as if to express pleasure with what they were doing at the time.

I think there really need to be some research on this type of turtle vocalization!


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## loyolaboy98 (Jun 6, 2013)

Complex comunication of the tortoise
By tortoiseforum.com


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## Heliopteryx (Jun 6, 2013)

My tortoise clicked his beak a few times when we first got him. I have no other tortoises, and he stopped after a few weeks, so I wonder if he never heard any replies and realized there are no nearby tortoises to communicate with.


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## anm1221 (Jun 7, 2013)

I think its almost as if a dog wagging its tail lol. I Know tortoises sometimes wag their tale but maybe clicking is like a tortoise's version of puring?


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jun 7, 2013)

anm1221 said:


> I think its almost as if a dog wagging its tail lol. I Know tortoises sometimes wag their tale but maybe clicking is like a tortoise's version of puring?



Maybe. Could be a type of chatter that animals use when "all is well," like tail-wagging, or it could be a comfort noise, like purring. Again, I'd love to figure more out about this behavior, but there's not a lot of funding available for reptile ethology out there.


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