Other Turtle Discussion :: Biting

[MiLhOuSe]

What excatly does it feel like when a turtle bites you? Especially one that is about 3.5 inches long? Now, I've never had any trouble with them so far, and I'm really not concerned if it bites be, but I'm concerned because my children like to give me a hand in washing their tank, and I'm a bit afraid that they can puncture the skin of my kids. Don't worry, my children aren't too young, one is 11 and the other one is 9, but I'm still worried about their health. Please give me any tips about how we can prevent this problem, because we're trying to get them used to us by being around them a lot, but they're still a bit unconfortable when it comes to the time that we take them out.
Sorry about the extremely long message, but any advice/experiences would be helpful.

[sonyj]

It hurts!! And it will hurt even more as they grow. Our turtle bit my husband here while back and he said it did not feel good at all. It didn't puncture the skin but he had a bruise for a couple of days.

You need to be very careful when removing them and make sure you have a firm grip on them. Hold one at a time with both hands. If they feel secure there shouldn't be any reason for them to bite unless they just happen to have a disagreeable nature.

[MiLhOuSe]

Are my kids okay holding them? And I also read somewhere that holding their legs while you have one hand around them helps as well.

[sonyj]

Our kids have never really hold Koopa (btw their the same age as yours 11 & 9). Our son wanted to hold him when we first got him but soon lost interest. Now they are content to watch instead.

I'm somewhat of a germ nut, so I would never let my kids help clean the tank. And you should see how many Clorox products I use on the floor, faucets, door knobs etc after cleaning is over!! Pathetic, huh? But as long as they wash their hands well and anything that the turtles or their water/equipment touch, they should be fine.

I'd be careful and keep an eye on them holding the turtles at first. Our son gave up because he didn't like how wiggly Koopa was and was always afraid he'd drop him. They should cup him in their hands to make him feel secure and not hold by the sides of the shell.

[MiLhOuSe]

Okay. Because What I do is put my hands around him, so my thumb is on top of his shell, and the rest of my hand is on the bottom. Oh, my wife is a germ nut too, the only thing stopping her from my kids holding them is me convincing her that it is "educational" and that they will "learn from it", which is true by the way

[Jessica313]

my turtle bit me once because he mistook my finger for food. i dont think he bit me as hard as he could.. but it hurt!! it didnt break skin, but i felt it for a couple days.....

i know all turtles have different personalities, thats a given. but my turtle has never been agressive to me at all, not even a little. he's hissed at me before but never tried to bite me for any reason other than thinkin my finger was food.

[reptilegrrl]

It is really not good to let kids hold turtles. A kid might startle when the turtle wiggles or bites, and drop the turtle. Turtles are adult pets.

My turtle has bitten me once, last week. That's one bite in almost 6 years. Something about his move outside- when he sees my entire hand, he knows what it is and does not bite. If all he can see are my fingers peeping over the edge of the pond, though, he doesn't know they are mine and if I don't wiggle them at him, he will bite them. It did not hurt and was more humorous than anything else.

[jenaero]

Both of my res have a pretty good bite. The last two incidents drew blood. I also don't advise letting the kids hold them, more for the turt's safety than anything else.

[industrial_girl_2000]

What excatly does it feel like when a turtle bites you? Especially one that is about 3.5 inches long?

It pinches. I have a full-grown RES & she is over 11 inches long. It didn't hurt so bad when she was around 6-7 inches, but it really smarts now that she is an adult. It very rarely breaks the skin, she just pinches REALLY hard & leaves a small bruise. This happens mostly when I am hand feeding her. I have gotten smarter about feeding her by hand and mostly use a baby spoon so she can bite that instead of my finger!

[jenaero]

I think the only reason mine draw blood is because they bite, then hold on and wiggle around like a shark does, trying to get a chunk

[daredevilgirl013]

Yeah when they bite, wowzers, does it hurt. Mine bit me good a while back and he would not let go of me. And he bit me right between my thumb and my pointer finger right in the soft spot between them. I hardly ever cry over pain and I was crying. Plus he wouldn't let go till we dumped water over his head. So yeah it hurts. Would I let a kid hold them. No. Because if a turtle bites you, you cannot move your hand (especially when you want to just shake them off) because that will kill the turtle and a kid may want to do exactly that when they get bit.

[MiLhOuSe]

Well, speak of the devil! I was just cleaning out my tank when Dribble decided thatt he would go ahead and bite me! Thanks for telling me not to wiggle my hand, or else I probably would have! Anyways, he took a pretty good chunk of my hand to bite, and it did hurt quite a bit, but I'm okay. But now that Dribble bit me, my children would rather not touch either of them, and they say that they're quite content watching them! Kudos to everyone that answered in this topic, it helped!

[Boogerbutt02]

I have never been bitten by my turtles... Popped and peed on yes...lololol... to me their mouths look like a birds beak in a sense, would that be a good comparative?

[kayla_2305]

well my turtle is pretty small just bout 2 and a half inches long and tries to bite me all the time!!! i dont know why she has just started. she has never actually bitten me on the skin but she bite me once and got ahold of my finger nail!!!! she would not let go so she just kinda just hung there so i stuck my hand(with her on my finger nail) back into her aquarium and she let go and swam to her favorite spot, the corner.it didnt hurt because she got my finger nail but it scared me and i jumped, she tries a lot to bite me now.