All animals need some kind of enrichment to help them live full, happy lives. While this can mean something very different for a cat or dog versus a turtle, enriching activities are a vital part of a pet’s well-being.
You may think there is little you can do with a pet turtle. After all, you can’t take them out for long hikes or run them through agility courses like a dog. They don’t like to be cuddled like a cat. However, turtles love toys and other enriching activities. They need to play! If you are a turtle owner who wants to give your pet the best life possible, read on to learn more about the different toys and other techniques you can use to enrich your turtle’s life.
What Is Enrichment?
Enrichment is a broad term used to describe how an animal’s life is made better. It can be done through toys, playing, interactions, food, environment, and habitat. All pets have different abilities and needs, so it is important to understand the best way to enrich your animal’s life in order to keep them happy.
Why Is Enrichment Important?
Providing your pets with different stimuli and activities keeps them from getting bored. A bored pet is often a destructive or unhealthy pet. Enrichment is what makes a pet’s life full and interesting.
Most pets can become stressed or depressed when they are bored. This leads to bigger health issues and an overall unhappy animal. We have pets because we love and care about them, so we need to make sure we do everything we can to give them a full life.
For turtles, enrichment activities can include a wide range of things from toys to environmental changes. Without them, turtles have been known to demonstrate signs of depression and illness. Lack of enrichment can also leave your turtle more susceptible to infection and injury.
What Turtles Like to Play With
There are many types of enrichment activities your pet turtle will enjoy. It is best to mix up your approach to turtle enrichment regularly to prevent them from becoming bored. Turtle enrichment can include toys, environmental changes, food games, and interaction with you and other animals.
Toys
Turtles love toys! There are many things turtles enjoy playing with. There aren’t many turtle-specific toys out there, but you can use many other objects.
Environment
Your turtle’s environment is also a great way to enrich their day-to-day lives. Turtles like to play with whatever you leave around, so you can use their habitat as an enrichment center.
Food
Food is another great source of turtle enrichment. You can do several things to make feeding time more fun for your turtles, including:
Human Interaction
Even though most turtles don’t like being handled, they do like to see you. When you take them out of their tank, you can have them follow you around in a safe space. You can also wiggle your fingers at them from outside the tank. They will try to catch your finger and follow it around if you move it back and forth.
Final Thoughts
Even though you may not think of turtles as playful creatures, they are! Turtles love toys and require many engaging activities to keep them happy and healthy. Try some of these with your turtle and you will be rewarded with a content pet.
Featured Image Credit: Piqsels
