General Care Discussion :: Clicking noise while basking?

[CollinTrab]

Hello, this is my first time on the site. I was looking around but didn't see anything on this. While one of my turtles is basking he makes a clicking noise with his mouth and foot. Not sure what it means. Any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry, I'm sure the regulars on this site have answered this question many times.

[CollinTrab]

There is almost no info out there about clicking noises RES turtles make. Mine does it while basking. I hope its nothing serious, I have been reading some things on the site about it. If anyone has info or links to pages about it I would really appreciate it.

[richieboy]

Sure it's not moving and making noise with its claws? What's your basking area made? If it's plastic, or resin, or something hard. It might just be making noise while it readjusts itself.

[marisa]

A clicking sound with the mouth (I've never hear of the foot doing it), kind of like a "tsk, tsk" sound while basking can mean that the turtle is getting dehydrated. It also can mean (if it occurs with other symptoms) that a turtle has an RI. If your turtle is otherwise healthy, I'd just keep an eye out for other unusual behavior.

[CollinTrab]

its with the foot and mouth, i need to make a video of it so you can see. they seem very healthy

[steve]

Maybe the foot is scratching against the basking area?

[Bugbug]

Mine seems to do this too, she looks at her front foot, opens her mouth, makes a sound that seems like a mix of a hiss and a frog croak, and attempts to bite her arm. Then she goes back like nothing has happened :/

[richieboy]

Her arm might be bothering or itchy from shedding. Are your water and basking temps on point? Are you dechlorinating the water and using a filter?

[Bugbug]

Well I have a well so i don't dechlorinate the water, and have a filter and all the right basking lights, but i haven't got a water heater yet. Could that be causing it?

[steve]

A stable and consistent water temperature is fairly important to captive turtles.

[richieboy]

Yea I myself always that like the filter or the lights were top priority. Though they're important, the heater really is because they're a cold blooded animal and only thrive in the correct temperatures. Imagine if you were out in the snow and had no body heat and couldn't warm up no matter how many jackets you had on. Jeez..

[Bugbug]

Oh yea that had been my train of thought too.. that the lights and clean water and such were more important. But i'm getting the heater this week, so hopefully that can help this stop.

[richieboy]

Yeah, you should be okay. My turtle survived most of its life without a heater. Filter and light too for that matter. Once it's all going though it's cool to see them thrive.

[Bugbug]

Yea from what i hear my turtle was in relatively the same situation before i got her.

[dibox]

My turtle does that clicking too when basking.
But I can't notice where the sound is coming from.
I'm pretty sure it's not the foot or arm scratching because the sound is regular. Like a cycle.
What my imagination suggested to me was...
the old shell plates shrinking / disfiguring / shedding in tiny fractions under the heat.

Although I'd like to have the 'dehydration' theory confirmed or disproved. My flat is pretty dry...