Photo Gallery :: It's Henry's Feeding Time

[chrysnyc]

Maneating Turtle


Mine, mine, mine!


Yep, that's a piece of my finger Henry.


Check out the size of that mouth!

[JessicaTS]

Ouch, did that hurt?
It is best that you don't purposely "feed" your finger to him. It can cause some harm to his jaws.

[chrysnyc]

It didn't really hurt that much. I didn't know that it causes harm, but on the plus side this is the first and only time I've done it. I only did it for picture taking purposes. When I feed him, he always mistakes my fingers for food, but unfortunately he has become very spoiled, and won't eat any other way. I just discovered today that by purposely having him bite my finger actually discourages him from biting my fingers while feeding.

[bradhart]

I have to make my turt 'grab' for a pellet before I feed him, otherwise he gets so excited about feeding time that he ignores the food I put in there, and just keeps swimming with that 'where's my food?' look on his face.

[JessicaTS]

Turtles in general have broad, powerful jaws which is why I don't feed my turtles pellets by hand.
My little 2inch sideneck took a bite of me and it drew a bit of blood.

[chrysnyc]

Henry's never drawn blood. He just gets really excited and misses the food, especially if I get home later than normal and feed him late. I've tried to stop feeding him by hand, but the only thing I have found that I can feed him without handfeeding is lettuce. Otherwise he just follows my hand instead of focusing on the pellets or whatever I am feeding him.

[cam722]

I have that problem with my turtles also. The thing to remember is they see the food from under the water. So if you put the food in the water, they will eventually see it. Keep your hand away from the top of the water or they'll just keep following it. Sometimes it seems as if my turtles are just plain blind because every move I make they follow without looking for their food.. I've also found that putting the food at the side of the tank seems to help them find it better than having it floating all over. Not sure why they see it better there.

[chrysnyc]

Thanks cam722 I'll try that. I noticed that if I break up the lettuce, and put all in the corner in a bunch he eats it there.

[steve]

I personally don't like my turts stretching out like that to grab food, which is why I don't feed by hand as much as I'd like too. Well, when I do offer food by hand, my hand is usually in the water or very near the surface. Plus, they're too good at getting my fingers. When Henry does get you in a painful way, just make sure you don't yank your hand out causing unintentional harm.

[tutlehaven]

i hand feed my turts but not by making them stretch too far. Voltamort will not eat any food until she has had some from my hand. they have got my finger before but they do know when they have it and do not bite hard,they just let go and try again.

[Hammy]

Spanky bit me once, and he bites hard! AND he wouldn't let go for ages... now I drop a little bit of food down the inside of the glass and run my finger and thumb together along the outside, giving the illusion of me hand feeding him!

Though I can still hand feed the other little ones, though they are becoming too interested in my fingers too!

[Brianthedog18]

Wow chrysnyc, from what I can see your tank looks pretty neat with the deco, can you post some pics of your tank?

[chrysnyc]

Actually, Henry doesn't normally have to stretch like that for food, but I wanted to capture how much he loves to eat. I normally put my hand very close to the water, so he doesn't have to stretch very much at all. He has grabbed me once or twice and wouldn't let go. I am always very careful not to hurt him when I am trying to get him loose. He eventually realizes my fingers are attached. Brianthedog18, I borrowed the camera to take a picture of my other turtle, and I completely forgot to take pictures of the tank. If I get to borrow the camera again, I will post some pics of my setup. These are at least some wider angle pics, so you can at least see a little more. It's only really half the tank you are seeing.

[windowskiller987]

Usualy When I bring the food out my RES pushes up against the glass like if he does it hard enough he'll go through