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Hello! I haven't been here in a while, but things are going pretty well with Thomas and me.

I do have a concern though. Sometimes, Thomas will try to bite at his arm, he ends up spinning in circles trying to get at it. When he does get it though, he won't let go and just yanks and yanks at it and spins in circles all over the tank, bumps into the walls. Eventually he ends up just sitting in one spot, holding his arm.

When he does this, sometimes after a few minutes he'll just let go, but sometimes I take him out and he usually won't let go even then unless I poke at his other leg to distract him. It's really weird and I haven't found anything about turtles doing this.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this or have any ideas what could be causing it? I'd appreciate any thoughts. Thanks!

Do you think he's biting at the excess skin on his arm? Or maybe he's just itchy? Dumbork tries that but she stops once the itch is scratched.

My male RES bites his nails at night and goes a bit crazy. Is it the same arm he bites?

My new turtle is doing the same thing.She is biting her leg not her nails is this a concern? Thanks

As long as there is no injury. I'm not sure how we can stop the behavior aside from taking the turtle out of the tank.

I know this is an old post, but I've been having the same issue with a 20 year old RES. I've described the issue at length on reddit but still have no solution to this issue. I'm hoping someone comes across this who has figured out why this happens. Here are the details:

- RES is male, approx. 20 years old.
- Shares a room with a male and female RES, which our vet said might be the cause due to sounds / smells. (It's the only thing we haven't tried yet due to lack off space.)
- Happens only at night / once the lights go out. I've tried red bulbs and night lights, which worked at one point. I've even tried dimmers to simulate a sunset. (The change in seasons / daylight was also thought to affect this.)
- I used to think it was caused by tank glass reflections or not enough room, but I've since moved him to a bigger space which is a tub.
- I've had to set timers on the filters because the ripples in the water cause reflections of "another moving turtle".

I believe this has become a habit now and is severely affecting basking times. We've had to remove the turtle from the water at night as a temp solution.

Sounds like the same thing that my male RES (in his late teens now) still does. He doesn't do it as aggressively as he used to or as often, and fortunately he never hurt himself. My guess is that it is related to boredom, but after awhile they cause some irritation and bite it out of habit.

Thank you for the response. Yes, the tubs are "boring". Everything I put in there with him, he attacks, which then leads to him biting himself. We sometimes land dock him for a couple hours to give him exercise. But it doesn't seem to lesson the anxiety, aggression, or whatever it is, at night.

He did that too... aggressively bite everything in his tank. His tank is now bare and he's got cork bark for his basking area. So when does bite it, it's pretty safe.
So your turtle is dry docked overnight? Does he have anything to burrow under?

When I wrote dry docked, I mean he goes in a carrier with towels over a heating pad. I think the term is usually used to refer to a RES that roams around on a floor. Sorry the confusion.

They never like small enclosures, it stresses them out. Larger areas where they can roam a little seems to do better. I used to block off a small section in a room and give them a bit more freedom.

I have 2 baby snappers. They were doing fine up until about a week ago. Suddenly, one of them became a monster! Attempting to eat everything in the tank, including himself! I caught him several times biting his own feet! I feel bad for the other one that's in there! I think I have to let the evil one go.

It's just a better idea to separate or keep only one. It would be great if they can get along, and I would certainly have more turtles but it's just impossible to predict what would happen.

Hello

My aquatic turtle (Gamera) started bitting its arm and i dont know if its normal or its some kind of problem !

Gamera is shedding a little bit in its neck but not the arm. Can anyone give me a light about it ?

Its my first reptile pet so... i have no idea what to do.

And sorry about my english ^^

I'd say the turtle is restless or bored if there is nothing wrong with the arm.