Feeding and Nutrition :: Turtles think my fingers are food, will this hurt me later?

[untsmurf]

I fed Mikey by hand... until he bit me.

[Franklin1013]

Never had franklin bite me, not in 8 months i'm waiting for it though

[SpotsMama]

Spot's bitten me twice since he's been grown. both times drew blood and hurt. The first time I was trying to feed him by hand and he actually took a chunk out of my finger. Ouch! I'm as careful as I can be now.

[emma]

Just the other day I stuck my hand in right in front of my turtles face (just my finger. I know this sounds crazy but since they are so small I didn't think it would hurt) and it really hurt when my turtle bit me! They are growing up and getting a harder bite!

[april zephyr]

My tiny babies bite and actually can lift their whole bodies off the basking area or water just by latching on to my fingers.

[FLhaven4strays]

I still hand-feed Liza ~ my pond-dwelling 9.5" cooter. I make it a point to hand feed only long pellets (like full-size Reptomin) and hold them VERY close to her head. She does get the side of my finger sometimes, but I apply a bit of pressure to her mouth w/ my thumb & she lets go quickly. Seems to realize there's a world of difference between fingers & food, and has never gone for my hand w/o food (so far.....) From what I understand though she's the exception - I would hesitate to feed most turtles her size.