How to Know If Your Turtle Is Happy? The Real Answer

As turtle owners, we usually do everything that is in our power to make sure that our turtles are happy. But how can we know that they really are happy?

How do you know if your turtle is happy? Unfortunately, there is no obvious way to tell if your turtle is happy, but in general, you can be sure that a healthy turtle is a happy turtle.

Since turtles don’t wiggle their tail like dogs, or purr like cats, there is no universal physical sign that you should look after, but this doesn’t mean that no turtle will show signs of being happy.

Specific Signs That Turtles Show When They Are Happy

As I said there are no universal signs, but some turtles will develop their own way of showing that they are happy.

Since every turtle has its own personality some of them might be inclined to be more active, and some of them might be a little shyer. So it’s not uncommon for turtles to develop their own way of acting when they are happy.

A lot of turtle owners have said that they know that their turtles are happy because they act a certain way when they see them. Some people have said that when their turtle sees them they will stop whatever they were doing and swim towards them, and in some cases even hit the glass of the tank. Some people have said that when their turtles see them they will jump.

While some people with shyer turtles say that they know that their turtle is happy because they ignore them, while in the beginning, they were hiding when they saw them.

All of those things can be considered signs, but at the same time, it might mean that your turtle started associating you with food.

Here is an extract from the article: Can Turtles Recognize Their Owners?

Yes, your turtle will recognize you, and they can easily tell the difference between you and other humans. Turtles have 5 senses, among those senses are hearing, seeing, and smelling. They can use those 3 senses to recognize you without any problem.

Now that you know that your pet turtle can recognize, let’s see what they think about you and how they see you. This might not be what you were expecting but they see you as the person who brings food to them, more or less a food dispenser. I know this doesn’t sound nice at all and it’s definitely not what you were hoping but you have to understand that for turtles that mean a lot. You are taking care of one of their most important needs and that is very important for them. In reality, you are also taking care of their protection and ensuring that they have a place to bask, but there is no way for them to know that.

Because you are the person that brings food, your turtle will start to develop some trust toward you. Not trust like you and I have in other people, but I think this is a good way to describe it. The way they manifest this trust is by not being aggressive toward you and cooperating with you. For example, they will not bite you when you handle them, but if a person that they don’t recognize tries to do it they will become aggressive toward them.

Taking into consideration the primitive way turtles are thinking, the trust that they show toward you is the most you can get out of them.

So while those signs can mean that your turtle is happy, it can also mean that they started associating you with somebody or something that fulfills one of their primary needs, and that is food.

A Healthy Turtle Is a Happy Turtle

But as I said at the beginning of the article a healthy turtle is a happy turtle. And this is the surest way to know that your turtle is happy.

A turtle doesn’t need too much to be happy. The basic things are a good diet, good water, and a basking area.

A Good Diet

A good and balanced diet is one of the most important things. And it’s up to you to make sure that your turtle eats everything that it needs.

Most pet turtles are omnivorous, which means that they will eat fruits, vegetables, and meat. So a well-balanced diet will include all of them, and some food pellets as well.

If you present a turtle with 3 piles of food, one containing only meat, another only fruit, and the last one only vegetables, the turtle will always choose the one with the meat. Turtles will always prefer meat over anything else. But eating only meat is not recommended for them. Meat contains a lot of protein, and if turtles eat too much protein they will end up with health problems.

As a meat source for your turtle, you can also use feeder fish and dried insects. They usually represent one of the main meat sources for turtles when they are in the wild, so they are good for pet turtles as well.

An ideal diet for a pet turtle will contain a mix of:

Pellets
Meat
Fish
Dried insects
Vegetables
Fruits
Aquatic plants

Turtles can eat almost anything, but there are a few food items that you have to avoid. Especially foods with a high amount of oxalic acid. Oxalic acid is a very toxic acid in high concentrations. It can be found in a lot of foods that we eat daily, but these doses are really small. A dangerous amount for humans starts from 15 grams, but for turtles, the amount is a lot smaller. Here is a list of common plants and vegetables that contain a high amount of oxalic acid that should be avoided ( the amount of oxalic acid is per 100g of the respective plant or vegetable ) :

Chives – 1.48 g

Parsley – 1.70 g

Spinach – 1.30 g

String Beans – 1. 35 g

Blackberries – 1.45 g

Avocado – 1.60 g

Amaranth – 1.09 g

Cassava – 1.26 g

Purslane – 1.31 g

If you want to know which turtle foods are the best on the market, and read my recommendations you should check out this article: Buyer’s Guide: Best Turtle Food.

Good Water

When it comes to water turtles need the water to be warm and clean. To achieve those you will need a water heater and of course a water filter.

Choosing the heater is quite easy, you just have to make sure that the temperature is adjustable and that it has some kind of protection so that your turtle doesn’t break it.

The water filter can be a little tricky to choose, but overall it’s not that complicated. I have a guide that will tell you what kind of filter you should get, and some recommendations, here is a list of that article: Guide for Cleaning a Turtle Tank.

Basking Area

A basking area is vital for good health. This is where turtles get a lot of their vitamins and body heat.

The baking area doesn’t have to be anything complicated, even a cut plastic box can be good. What’s really important is the UVB light and the heating bulb.

Choosing those two is again something that needs to be explained in a little more detail, and doing it here will make the article too long, but luckily we already have an article covering this subject and you can find it right here: Guide for Lighting and Heating a Turtle Tank and Basking Area.

Conclusion

So overall turtles don’t need that many things to be happy, and it can be quite hard to tell if they are happy when they see you or they just know that they are going to be fed.

But if you want to make sure that your turtle is happy, then take care of their basic needs.

I hope this article answered all of your questions, but in case you have any more left, you can always leave them in the comment section and I will answer them as soon as possible.