tortoise twitching

[poomwah]

We got a palm sized sulcatta Monday evening. He seems to be getting around without difficulty. But most of the time when he is sitting with his legs partially retracted, he will rhythmically pull his legs in slightly, then return them to their previous position. Sometimes this is accompanied by a similar head movement.
Is this a sign of a problem?

 

[Kymiie]

If im thinking the same as what your saying.. Its ok, its how they breathe. lol
But i may not be thinking what your saying...sounds like it though xx

 

[Cameron]

i had a smaller one once that did that, like Kymiie said, it seemed to do that when it breathed.

 

[poomwah]

That's what I was thinking, but I wanted to be sure

 

[Yvonne G]

Tortoises don't have muscles that make the lungs go in and out in order to breathe, so they use their legs as a bellows to help them move air. You see this quite readily in babies, but not so much as they get bigger.

 

[Cameron]

Tortoises don't have muscles that make the lungs go in and out in order to breathe, so they use their legs as a bellows to help them move air. You see this quite readily in babies, but not so much as they get bigger.

i didn't know that, very good info, thanks!

 

[poomwah]

Yes, thank you