My Turtle Keeps Swimming Against the Glass

If your turtle swims constantly against the glass it’s normal to ask yourself what is wrong. One of my turtles did the same thing during his first days in the tank, but after a short while, I managed to stop him from doing so. So here is a complete guide on why your turtle is swimming against the glass, and what you can do to stop this.

Turtles end up swimming against the glass of the tank when something is wrong with them or their environment. Turtles usually act this way when they are scared, dressed, pregnant, or when the temperature is bad, or when they don’t have enough food.

Now let’s take a closer look at each problem and see what you have to do in each case.

Scared

If you just got your turtle, then it’s absolutely normal for it to behave strangely. It’s really common to see a turtle trying to escape during the first days in a new tank.

Turtles can get scared very easily, and moving from a place to another can be very frightening for them. If you bought your turtle from a store, it will go from a small cramped tank, that they share with multiple turtles, to a new spacious tank where they can live alone. And if they were sent through the mail, they will be even more scared. Even if you adopted your turtle from somebody else that took good care of it, the change in the surroundings will be huge for the turtle.

If this is the case for your turtle, you just have to let your turtle calm down a little. After about a week or so, your turtle will get used to the new environment and will start acting normally. There is nothing you can do in this case, just make sure that you don’t scare your turtle any further. So try not to interact with it too much for a while.

Stressed

Surprisingly turtles are very easily affected by stress. A stressed-out turtle can exhibit all kinds of strange behaviors, and swimming against the glass is one of them.

Here are a few things that can stress a turtle:

Loud speakers that are placed right next to the tank
A cat or a dog that is always trying to get into the tank
Improper handling
Too frequent interactions
Etc.

If something is able to stress out most people, then it can also easily stress out a turtle.

To solve this problem you simply have to remove the stress source. Usually, this can be solved by moving the tank to another room that is less frequented by other people. But how to solve this problem really depends on the thing that is stressing your turtle. But basically, you just have to remove that stress factor, and soon your turtle will soon start to act normal again.

Confused

Before we move to more complex causes I think that we should also take into consideration the possibility of confusion. This is extremely common with new pet turtles that used to live in the wild.

In the wild, there are very few transparent objects, and none of them are as transparent or as easy to see through as the glass of a tank. So there is a good chance that your turtle needs a little time to realize that there is some glass, and they won’t be able to get past it no matter how much they swim.

This is another case where you can’t do anything in particular to help your turtle. Just wait a while and your turtle will soon realize that it can’t swim through the glass.

Pregnancy

A pregnant turtle will act very strangely, she will stop eating, she will stop basking, she will try to dig everywhere, and she will try to swim through the glass.

Pregnant turtles don’t do this not because they don’t like the tank, they do this because they want to find a good place where they can lay the eggs.

Turtles usually lay their eggs in piles of leaves or holes that they dig, but never in water. So the tank is definitely not a suitable environment for this.

The first thing you have to do if you want to know if your turtle is really pregnant is to find out if it’s a male or a female, so you should read this article that is going to tell you if that’s the case: How to Tell If Your Turtle Is Male or Female (with Pictures).

And if your turtle is a female, and you want to know if she is pregnant, then you should read this article where you will find all the info you need: How to Tell if Your Turtle Is Pregnant.

If your turtle is pregnant there is nothing that you can do to make her calm down. You will have to wait for her to lay the eggs.

One important thing about turtles is that they can get pregnant even if there is no male around. The difference is that the eggs won’t be fertilized so no baby will come out of them. So even if you only have a female turtle she can still lay eggs.

Water Temperature

This is probably the most common problem that makes turtles swim against the glass.

Turtles need a temperature between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (24 and 27 degrees Celsius). They can live in water that is slightly colder or slightly warmer, but if the difference is too big they will try to get out and find a better place.

The solution for this problem is very simple, you simply have to adjust the water heater, or if you don’t have a water heater you simply have to get one.

If you need to buy a water heater make sure that you get one with an adjustable temperature, otherwise you won’t be able to properly control the temperature of the water. If you need help choosing a water heater you should check out the Recommended Gear Page, there you will find my recommendations for the best turtle care products, including water heaters.

Bad Basking Area Temperature

If the basking temperature is too high or too low, your turtle won’t be able to bask properly, so it will try to leave in search of a proper place where it can.

If the temperature is too high your turtle can get burnt, and they will avoid the basking area. If the temperature is too low then they won’t be able to properly heat themselves, so they will again leave to search for a better place.

This is probably the easiest thing to fix. Start by checking the temperature of the basking area with a thermometer. If the temperature is too low, then move the heating bulb slightly closer to your turtle, or get a more powerful bulb. Be careful not to bring the bulb too close, it can burn the turtle if it’s too close.

If the temperature is too high, you can either get a less powerful heat bulb or move the bulb further away from your turtle.

In general, the temperature should be between 85 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit (29 and 32 degrees Celsius). But depending on the species of the turtle the temperature can slightly differ.

If you are not sure how to properly manage a basking area you should read this guide: Guide for Lighting and Heating a Turtle Tank and Basking Area. There you will find the information you need, including the exact temperatures, how far the heat bulb should be from the turtle, and much more.

Improper Diet

While turtles are not very pretentious when it comes to food, if you don’t feed them enough food, or if you don’t give them the right food, they will start swimming against the glass trying to leave in search of food.

To solve this problem you have to adjust the amount of food you give to your turtle as well as the food itself.

One great and simple way to give your turtle the correct amount of food is to use the size of the head method.

To put this method into practice is to find a small container, like a medicine cup, a shot glass, or a bottle cap. This container has to be approximately the same size as the head of your turtle, without the neck. Then you fill that container to the top with food. This is the amount of food that you should give your turtle every day.

As for the food itself, the right type of food will differ from turtle species to turtle species. But overall most turtle species are omnivores, which means that they eat fruits, vegetables, and meat. So a balanced turtle diet will contain all of the following:

Fruits
Vegetables
Dried Insects
Fish
Meat
Pellets

Final Thoughts

I hope you will be able to find and solve your problem with the help of this article. But if you tried everything in this article and your turtle is still trying to get out, I would suggest you take your turtle to the vet. If there is nothing wrong with the tank, the water in the tank, the diet, and the basking area, there is a chance that your turtle might be sick, and the only way to know for sure is to go to a vet.

If you need further help with your turtle you can always check out our Care Guides section, where you will find hundreds of care guides, or you can leave a comment in the comment section and I will do my best to help you out.