General Care Discussion :: Biting turtle....

[Maplesquirrel]

One of my turtles is very shy in the tank....He hides whenever he sees anyone come in or out of the room. He is even shy about coming up and eating his food sometimes. He will get used to you if you sit in front of the tank long enough, but he doesn't seem very friendly. He has tried to bite me several times when I pick him up(and succeeded twice already...) The other day, I was bringing them outside for some sun(so they were in a little tupperware) and when I tried to take them out, the guy that always tries to bite me had bitten my other guys leg! He was only biting a peice of the skin(not the whole foot) but I couldn't get him to let go, so I just set them in the grass and waited. Finally(about two minutes) he let go. I looked at my turtles leg, and it didn't look hurt at all(they have such leathery skin anyway) and he didn't seem to mind too much(except when he was being bitten he was trying to defend himself my biting back) I was very upset about it. I was hoping he just saw the leg move, and thought it was food, and so bit. I hope he isn't going to be aggressive, or try and dominate over my other turtle(they are only LITTLE babies!) I was hoping someone could say their turtles have done the same things, and grew out of it. Has anyone had similar problems?

[missibsu]

How big are your turts and what size tank are they in?

The risk that you run with having two RES together is that they may not get along. Separation my be the only solution. One reason for aggression can be that the habitat isn't large enough for them to each have their own personal space. If you have met the 10 gallons per inch of shell recommendation, then I would try giving them a hiding spot where they can go to get away from the other turt.

If it continues I wouldn't hesitate to separate them though, before something serious happens to one of your turts.

[industrial_girl_2000]

There isn't much you can do about one turtle biting another one. You will most likely have to separate them.

In my experience, the male turtles I have had tend to bite more & be more aggressive in general. The only thing you can do is really work with them a lot (I take my turtle for little walks outdoors), make sure their tank is in a public place so they see people. Also, hand feed them every chance you get. The more they see you, the more they should eventually chill out, but it could take a couple of years before your biting turt really chills out on the biting thing.

[TinySlider2]

Our males are the same way. We have to be careful when getting them out or even trying to get another one out of the tank. Mine like to sneak up on you and bite.

[Maplesquirrel]

My turtles are about 2 inches now. They are in a 55(long) gallon tank right now...That should be plenty big enough for now, right? They don't seem to fight at all while in the tank, maybe they just didn't like being in that little container when I was bringing them outside. Today, I went in my room, and saw that they were basking together, one laying half way on top the other, so I am hoping they do actually like each other.... Thanks for the help!

[missibsu]

The biting could be strictly related to the movement from the tank to outside. 55 gallons is large enough, and if they are getting along in the water and during feeding time, then I wouldn't worry so much. Maybe the concern should be transporting them outside separately.

[sillygirl10000]

ive got a red belly and a res and they are females and they put there clawed feet by sides of head and shake em real fast at each other like they are tryin to see whos the bigger turtle its pretty funny because they never bite each other and it only happens under water

[marisa]

How big are the (shell lengths without the curve) and how big is the tank they're in?

[daredevilgirl013]

My turtle is all by himself and he bites me like mad. He just bit me really good today and I could not get him to let go. And my mom thought touching him on his nose would get him to stop but it only made him bite harder. He got me when he tried to get out of my hands (I was carrying him to his tank I had just cleaned) and I put my hand around him a bit more and he nailed me good.

But he's always like this. He always has his mouth open trying to bite someone and he's just constantly like this. He'll even snap at the fish and stuff in his tank a little bit everyday.

I'm not sure to what to do to get him to stop this because no one is going to want to take care of him when I go away if he's going to bite them. And I'm not even sure that it's really a he.

[steve]

Daredevilgirl, is he biting aggressively or is this mainly a feeding thing? Does he do this out of the water?

[daredevilgirl013]

His biting aggressively. It's not a feeding thing. I will not hand feed him because of this. He does this out of the water and if you go to get him out of the water, he'll snap at you. Everytime someone holds him he constantly has his mouth open ready to bite and if you get close enough he will (like he did with me)

I understand when he bites at the fish that it may be food wise but once he starts snapping at them he starts to snap at everything and bites the fake plants, the snails, you name it he attacks it. He's beyond aggressive I believe.

[steve]

I think it is a bit unusual for a captive RES to be as feisty as yours. Does he have any sociable behavior or is he just biting everything?

[daredevilgirl013]

He just bites everyone. I've tried to rub his belly when I take him out to calm him but he won't calm down. So for right now since he bit me pretty hard Saturday I just put him into a big bucket when I carry him around so that he can't bite me.

I've had him for almost a year now and he still will hide if a human comes into the room. He will only stay where he is if he notices that I'm coming in with food for him and then he'll watch me as if there is no tomorrow.

In the tank though he'll only go on his biting frenzy about once a week where he tries to bite his fish and the fake plants and everything else. Like last night I noticed that he just kept going after everything and this was even after I had fed him a little bit. He just kept biting at everything. So I thought maybe I didn't feed him enough so I put a few more pellets in and after he ate those he calmed down.

I think this is unusual too because my one friend has two RES and they'll swim up to me and welcome me and let me pet them. Mine just freaks out and hides and then tries to bite you. I think I have an attack turtle.

I've never done anything to cause him to be like this. I've always tried to take him outside so he can get some sun when it is warm enough. I've stopped letting him run around in the living room because he goes after the cat and tries to bite her, and so now he just stays in his tank until it is time to come out for cleaning or outdoor time. Though I'll pick him up about once a week to look at him and observe his shell and make sure he's healthy.

But the only time we've ever made him mad was when he bit me this last time and refused to let go and bit deep into my thumb (he had me crying and it takes a lot for me to cry) and mom tapped him on the nose to try and make him let go and he just bit harder and drew his head in. I still have a nice bruise on my thumb from where he bit me.

[missibsu]

I used to have a hedgehog that was a bit on the mean side. She used to bite, but it was more like a strong pinch. First instinct when your finger is stuck in her mouth is to pull out, but in reality, you should push your finger in further to get her to let go. I would guess that the same theory would work with Mikey.

[daredevilgirl013]

I didn't even move when he bit me because I was just so shocked. We finally put his head under the facet and turned the water on and he let go. If he bites me again I'll try pushing in.