Do turtles feel emotions? Can they miss their owners when you're gone?

I’m not sure that turtles miss people, but I suppose it is possible. My thought is that their routine is different and that they are in an adjustment phase. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It would help to know what type of turtle you have, as the best housing setups will differ a bit from one species to another. However, the short answer is YES - they can absolutely feel cold! Since a turtle can't regulate its own temperature, they are quite sensitive to the temperature of their environment, and if they are too cool they won't eat or digest well. It is important to have a thermometer in your turtle's environment so you can regulate the temperature and make adjustments as needed. Most turtles will have a heat lamp to provide temperature gradient in their enclosure. Hope this helps!

Clean the tank and perform a partial water change. Rinse the filter media in some tank water, not tap water, to preserve beneficial bacteria. Make sure the water is warm, between 75F and 86 F, and the basking area is at proper temp ( 85 F to 90 F). Low temps can affect activity in reptiles. She may need a few days to reacclimate to you, even though you weren't gone long. Monitor for lethargy, loss of appetite, swimming crooked, difficulty breathing or discharge from the eyes or nose. If necessary, have her examined by your veterinarian or an experienced herp vet to diagnose and treat injury or infection.

I am sorry you lost Scoob for now but I am sure you will see him again. Reptiles have very strong instincts and do not really have to learn to be “wild” so he should be fine. Keep an eye out whenever it is sunny and you will eventually see him sunning himself when he is no longer nervous about his new home.

In doing some research to answer your question, I found that the both the Desert Tortoise and Wood Turtle have been shown to display homosexual behavior, but it may not be an extensive list. Since I don't know the type of turtle Jerome is, I can't say for sure if his breed has been shown to display homosexual behaviors. Regardless, whether or not Jerome is gay has no bearing on his ability to live his life as an awesome turtle, and I would not worry about it :-)

Yes, cats miss their people. They never are like "oh whatever they're gone forever". They will look for their person or people for a long time and then just give up, however if that person comes back after a while, and be it years, they will recognize the person and be very happy. Cats will remember their people for life.

I am very sorry to hear about your birdies. I believe that the human-animal bond is very real and very strong. While there is certainly no scientific evidence to suggest there is truth to what you have stated, I think that animals can experience a great deal of stress when they are away from the people they know. While I don't typically hear about people's pets dying when they are away, I suppose a great enough stressor could result in death, particularly birds who are very susceptible to stress induced illness. If you are dedicated to figuring out the official cause of death, a pathologist or experienced avian veterinarian may be able to perform an autopsy on Tico and Tina. If this is something you are considering, you should referigerate their remains until their point of delivery to the doctors. Do not freeze their remains as this will disturb testing.