Why Do Turtles Cry? Do Butterflies Drink Turtle Tears?

You might have noticed that your turtle does produce tears. Especially when it is laying eggs. The most obvious reason you will have is they cry because it is painful to lay eggs. Well, is this true? In this post, we will find out if turtles do cry, we will also look at some of the reasons why turtles cry when they lay eggs. We will find out whether laying eggs is painful and also whether tortoises do the same. It is interesting why some of the things happen. I noticed my turtle with running eyes when it was laying eggs, and I was so concerned. I immediately started to find out more about this incident. I learned a lot, and today I am going to share with you what I found out.

So, why do turtles cry? 

Well, it is very true turtles do cry. This is very normal and healthy for turtles. It is by crying that these turtles clean their eyes. They need to cry to get rid of the salts in their eyes and bodies. They do it more often than we think. We only see them crying when they are laying eggs because that is the only time they get out of water. Even when they are in the water, they do cry.

What we should understand is that there are no turtles that cry like a human. Human beings will cry when they are sad or hurt. Turtles never get sad, and they do not cry because they are hurt. They only cry to protect their eyes, to keep them wet, and to get rid of the much salt in their bodies. This is just a mechanism built into their system. The gland produces salty tears on their eyes. Stay tuned to learn more about why turtles do cry.

Can Land Turtles Cry?

Since most turtles spend their time in the water, you might ask yourself whether land turtles can cry as well. The truth is, land turtles cry as well. The difference between a land turtle and a sea turtle is that a sea turtle spends most of its time in the water, and seawater is salty. This means that they need to cry more to balance the salt in their bodies as well as their eyes. Land turtles have other concerns. Their concern is not just about balancing the salt content in their bodies but also to protect their eyes from the harsh weather conditions. On land, there are dust particles in the air, sand, dry climate. The turtles need to keep their eyes wet for this matter and keep the dirt away from their eyes. To do this, they have glands on both eyes that are responsible for the production of the salty tears. These glands are working to maintain the balance. There tear then come out through the eyes and flush away the dirt in the eyes if there are any. This process is always running; otherwise, salt would build up in the turtle’s body.

Do Sea Turtles Cry When They Lay Eggs?

Turtles do not only cry when they are laying eggs. You only notice this when they are laying eggs because this is among the short times that a sea turtle will spend time on land. The rest of the time, they are in the water. They will do it anywhere. The reason behind this is to get rid of the dirt that gets into their eyes. They also do this to maintain a balance of salt in their body. To understand this better, you should know that a turtle’s kidneys are not as efficient as the kidneys of a human being. They, therefore, cannot produce their urine to have more salt than the salty water they consume each time. If they had no other way to remove the salt in their bodies, the salt would build up in their bodies, and this would have some ugly results. So, to avoid this, turtles have glands on both eyes that help with that.

Is It Painful For Turtles To Lay Eggs?

When turtles lay eggs, you will notice them crying. Does this mean that it is painful for them to lay eggs? Well, I don’t think so. In my view, the reason you will see them crying during that time is to try and balance the salt in their body. This process happens more often than we can imagine, but we only see it when they are laying eggs because that is the only time they are on land. In reality, they do this even when they are in the sea. This is the only way that they can get rid of the much salt in their bodies. As we know, too much of something is poisonous, so they have to remove the salt inside to maintain a balance. On land, you will find butterflies around the eyes of turtle and tortoises. It is because they need the turtle’s tears. Read to the end to find out why butterflies need turtle’s tears.

Do Tortoises Cry?

Well, tortoises will also cry but not as often as the sea turtles. The tortoises on land also have to take care of their eyes. It is some sort of protection from whatever gets in the eyes. On land, there are so many dust particles in the air, and this does get in the eyes of these tortoises. To get rid of the sand and dust particles, they cry. There is also another reason why tortoises will cry. They can do it to protect themselves from the dry climate, the wind, and other climatic conditions. They need to protect their eyes and keep them wet every time. This shows how important crying is to tortoises and not only to tortoises but also turtles. People will often mistake their crying to some sort of pain or sadness. Well, this is not the case. Turtles cannot be sad or happy.  

To conclude, we now know some of the reasons why turtles will cry. The main reason is to balance the salt in their body. Turtle’s kidneys are not very efficient, and they cannot produce urine with so much salt. Since the salt buildup is not healthy, the turtles have another mechanism to get rid of the salt. They have glands that produce tears with salt from the body. The tears will also help to get rid of the dirt in their eyes.

RELATED QUESTIONS:

Why Do Butterflies Drink Turtle Tears?

Most of the time, you will find butterflies roaming around the turtle’s eyes. The reason behind this is that turtle’s tears have so much sodium that it is very useful to butterflies. Butterflies lack this mineral, and this is the reason you will find them settling around the turtle’s eyes to sip the tears and gain the sodium mineral. Check also the best names for turtles.

Why Do Turtles Make Noises?

At times you will hear some noises from a turtle-like a hiss or something of the sort. This should not concern you that much. This just means that the turtle is frightened, and he retracts his head back to his shell. They do this rapidly, which forces the air in their lungs out very fast, leading to the production of the noises. This then gives room for the head to fit in the shell.

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