Other Turtle Discussion :: Turtle abuse...not really... I hope!

[newtoturtles]

I have had Squirt for almost a month now. He is in our second office which is often vacant for most of the day. The point is there is not much activity around.

Whenever I walk in he gets real skittish. When I am watching from the other office he is just fine. The problem is I want him to get used to me and my family eventually and he seems to be making no progress in that regard. However, he is real brave when food is involved!

Well, in an attempt to fix this problem I have put a rotating fan in there with streamers on them to help him get used to activity in the room.

Is this crazy, mean or something else I am missing?

Mike

[steve]

People can be seen as predatory, I don't think the fan would help. Is he a hatchling? If so let him get time to adjust. To get him to get more used to you, feeding by hand is helpful but also your presence would help. You might want to handle him a little bit more in the future, once he gets used to you.

[newtoturtles]

He is 4 inches. Not a hatchling to be sure.

Mike

[marisa]

If he's brave where food is concerned, you might try feeding him out of the tank in a separate container of water once he's adjusted to his new surroundings a bit. It will give you a chance to handle him a bit more/ get him more used to your touch and will keep the tank water cleaner.

I'd ditch the fan and streamers. I've found that turtles will get used to whatever is in a room with them. Add something new, though, and they'll most likely react by trying to hide. You don't want him used to a fan, you want him more used to you. The best way to gradually do that is to spend time in the room going about your business so he can observe you. Gradually spend more time closer to the tank, and build up to actually taking him out to feed.

I should say, though, that this is easier to do with a hatchling and may not work as well with a 4" turtle. (But it still will depend in part on his personality and how he was treated before you got him.)

[juicedgt02]

my 2 res appear to be afraid of humans as well, when someone walks into the room they start swiming away and try to hide but they are fine when the dog goes up to the tank and looks at them, so I think it's more of the size of the person than movement.

[marisa]

Hmm...I'm not too sure of that. How to explain my RES, who will let my cousin (much larger than me) come right up to him, but who will run like crazy from my mother, who is a lot smaller than me? They can recognize people/faces. And any sudden movement can cause my RES to slide into the water...

[sonyj]

That's absolutely true, Marisa. Koopa recognizes the kids anytime they are in the room and will follow their movements in the room by swimming in their direction or going to the top and begging. He only rarely does that with me or my husband. The kids rotate days on feeding Koopa his pellets in the morning (under my supervision of course and always without touching the water or Koopa). I guess Koopa knows who gives him his food.