General Care Discussion :: Turtle biting others leg

[dixie8123]

Okay, right before vacation, I was feeding my turtles.. All the sudden, one gets in a rush for some reason and literaly bites on to my smallest turtles leg and tries to pull her down. Of course, my fattest turtle is up there eating all the food like nothings wrong. Also, I was hitting the tank trying ot get them to stop. After about 30 secondds, they stop. At first, my turtle looked like he was hurt, then after a miunte, he looked fine... Im not sure if he is really hurt or did they just get into alittle accident...? Please help.

Thanks,
Dixie

[steve]

Aggression will happen with RES, males or females. Hopefully it was just some competition during feeding (you might want to consider doing it separately) but you always need to keep an eye on any escalation.

[dixie8123]

Okay, thanks Steve. I think it was... they were fighting for one pellet is how it pretty much started.

[sflemin2]

Keep an eye on them, there is a chance you may have to separate them . How big are they?

[TurtleGirl1985]

My turtles did that this morning and i screamed bloody murder. It only lasted 5-10 sec but as soon as they stopped my smaller one butter kind swam funny and i noticed some lose skin was hanging off the foot that got hurt. And I took him out and put him in another bucket. and looked at his foot it wasnt bleeding but it almost looks like he lost a toenail and looks like when we get our skin pinched between something and get a blood blister . So Im taking butter to the vet first thing in the morning and trying to give peanut away.

[valladin82]

I see a lot of people having problems with their turtles when it comes to feeding time. I haven't seen this yet in mine but then again I always feed the prized pellets to them when they're in separate containers outside of the tank. When I put leafy greens in the tank they just take turns nibbling on it. My RES though is VERY aggressive when the pellets come out though. Heck even now when I put him in the container he knows its business time and he'll climb up the side of the container with his head out like "I'm ready!" lol

[TurtleGirl1985]

well mine wont eat unless they are in the tank

[valladin82]

Oh they'll eat. Trust me.

[TurtleGirl1985]

mine never have and dont think they will. So Im keeping butter and giving away peanut today. Im taking butter to the vet tomarrow morning

[Kurtni]

well mine wont eat unless they are in the tank

So take one turtle out of the tank, feed the other, and then switch them. Even if your turtles aren't aggressive that can be a good idea to make sure one isn't being a food hogger.

[TurtleGirl1985]

ya peanut was the food hogger. So someone came today an picked him up so now i just have one turtle

[seanb1979]

My turtles did that this morning and i screamed bloody murder. It only lasted 5-10 sec but as soon as they stopped my smaller one butter kind swam funny and i noticed some lose skin was hanging off the foot that got hurt. And I took him out and put him in another bucket. and looked at his foot it wasnt bleeding but it almost looks like he lost a toenail and looks like when we get our skin pinched between something and get a blood blister . So Im taking butter to the vet first thing in the morning and trying to give peanut away.

but then you wont have a sandwich anymore

[TurtleGirl1985]

i know after I gave him away i rescued two turtles the size of quarters and named one Peanut #2 and Jelly they are seperated from butter so i wont have this issue

[VeipaCray]

Hatchling rescues???

[TurtleGirl1985]

yes they are doing so much better