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Whenever I need to take my slider out of his tank for cleaning or whatever, he kicks wildly and digs his claws into my hands, which makes it hard to keep a grip on him.

Is there a way to prevent this? For example, is there a particular way to hold them that I don't know about? Or am I doing something wrong to scare him? I just want to be able to hold the turtle without being attacked!

I know for my 2 older res, I had to hold them upside down. It was the only time they would stay still. Mind you, that was only long enough to get them from the tank to their holding tank (a few seconds). If I held them any other way, they'd try with all their might to get loose and I'd end up getting hurt.

I have a towel that I use when I pick up my RES. I either put him on it in the palm of one hand and hold him down with the other so he can't escape or I wrap it around him as I pick it up. It will contain him for a while, until he figures how to kick free from it.

If I hold Petri on my bare hand, he kicks, but if I hold him on a paper towel on my hand, he's fine.