Other Turtle Discussion :: After Three Months Mikey is still freakish around people

[daredevilgirl013]

Mikey is not a happy camper around people. He has yet to get used to us. I know it takes time but he constantly is jumping back into the water or hiding. I figured by now he'd break out of it. I don't handle him as much anymore, just for cleaning and for his shell cream treatment that he gets, but that is only once a week.

He is in my bedroom so the traffic is low, but if he even sees us walk in he panics and hides, even if it's just me. When I do handle him he goes straight into his holding/basking tank as I call it where he sits in either my bedroom or in the kitchen where someone can keep an eye on him incase he decides he wants to try and escape. But I know no one bugs him.

I know that I can never put him into a clear tank like the one I bought him. I had to change his set up completely because he refused to bask due to the fact that he could see us from the basking dock walking past my bedroom door even though it was a good 10 feet away. So now the basking dock makes it so that he can only see the wall. If he had a clear tank he'd never leave the inside of his shell.

I try to make as little noise as possible when I walk in and it still makes him freak out and almost do a backflip into the water. I don't even poke my face into his cage when I walk by so it's not like I'm bugging him.

The only time he actually comes up to me is right after I put him back from cleaning his tank or giving him his shell treatment and he will float in the water to watch me put the hardware cloth back on top of his tank. That is the only time he is not afraid of me.

Is there anyway to get it so that he doesn't do a backflip into the water every single time I walk into the room. If I even notice that he's basking I'll slowly back out of the room and not go back in for several more hours because I don't want to interrupt him and sometimes that gets a little bit annoying. I just wish if nothing else that he would get used to me. Any tips on how to get him used to me besides sitting next to the tank all day till he knows who I am? (trust me I have not done that yet nor do I plan to)

[jenaero]

Let me say first that unless your turt has a shell problem that you are treating him for, the cream is unnecessary and can actually be harmful.

Ok, now on-topic. My turts are both almost a year and a half old and they still flip off the dock sometimes if we stand up too fast or come in the room too fast. I don't think there's a whole lot you can do about that. They seem to mellow out over time when they figure out you're not going to eat them. It's a natural instinct and that's pretty much why they're called 'sliders'.

I know most people will say to put your tank in a low-traffic area but I don't really agree with that. I mean, we don't want to stress them out but they do have to get used to people. I have my tank in my living room and I believe that helps. They see us walk around, sit down, stand, leave and enter the room and I think it's becoming normal for them now. My one turtle, Pandora, has always been skittish and used to freak out if I was sitting on the couch and suddenly looked in her direction. Now, although she still flips out sometimes, it's not nearly as much. My other res, Rocks is just the opposite. I can stand and talk to her and even touch her when she's basking.

[sonyj]

I agree with Jen on this. If you continue to keep them in the rubbermaid for the simple reason that he does what is natural to him (slide in the water when something bigger than him comes by) then you are only making things worse. If you want him to get used to people then you have to let him do it in his own time and be able to see them. We've had Koopa going on 6 months and although he is much better than he used to be, he still has his times he'll leap full speed off the dock if we come into the room wrong. But if we hadn't let him see us and watch us walk in and out of the room then those times would be a lot more than they are now.

[steve]

At first, my RES would do that too. I believe when they are basking, they are extremely aware of whats around them because they are more vulnerable from predators. Being in a tank does not change that necessarily change instinctive behavior.

How old is your turtle? Is he still a hatchling? Then I would give it some more time, RES are not a domestic animal. You can try to be more social with him, are feeding him by hand? Is he only freakish when on the basking area?

[ellman605]

after i fed mine my hand they seemed to greet me more welcomly, i can walk over while their basking, put my hand down, and he'll go right into my hand, and he doesnt seem to care, just try and be more "with" them, try a little feeding by hand, i think thats what changed mine,

[daredevilgirl013]

He's still a hatchling, and he won't eat from my hand. He doesn't want much to do with humans at all. And the worst part is he's the safest in my room as I have two cats and one thinks he's a mouse and the other has yet to discover him and I know they would torment him in the living room. Plus my room is the warmest out of them all as I keep a space heater in here for Mikey and me so that we can stay warm (my body temp is really low so I prefer my room to be really hot) And my room is the only place that even had room to put him as I won't put his tank on the floor due to cats and central air and the likes. So it limits where I can put him.

[jenaero]

That stinks that you can't move him. I know what you mean about low body temps...my husband swears I'm cold-blooded Just go in your room whenever you need to. He's going to have to deal with it and get used to it. I find moving rediculously slow when entering the room helps a lot. Also, if I'm wearing bright colors it freaks them out but if I'm wearing blue or black they don't care if I'm standing right over them. Just give him time and he should mellow out some.

[daredevilgirl013]

Yeah if I notice him basking I'll actually get down and crawl on the floor. The things you do for your kids. I've tried the moving really slowly, he'll wait till I get past his tank and then he'll freak out. He's a little slow sometimes lol. I don't really have any clothes that are bright colored so no worries there.

[sappire]

my turt used to think i was the worse thing ever now win i go buy he lookes at me and waits for me to feed him win he waits for me to feed him he looks up at the lid and i am the only one he wont bite he will bite my parents my siblingsmy friends but not me i guss he has heard the saying dont bite the hand that feeds you.

[daredevilgirl013]

Mine tried to bite me once, but he's never tried it again after that, I just think he was mad at me for something. But he'll always open his mouth as if he is going to bite me but he never does. At least not yet anyways..and I hope he never does.

[sappire]

well i am glad my turt only trust me

[steve]

My turts are less freakish when basking, but they will sometimes stop basking to beg. They watch me walk by them, so I try not to make eye contact. Plus, if I ignore them when they try to beg, they will go back to basking a few minutes later (sometimes).

[marisa]

In most cases, if a turtle is new to a habitat (recently bought) and refuses to bask, putting the tank in a low-traffic area is less stressful. Turtles, to a greater or lesser extent, adapt to the movement in the environment they're in, however. At some point, if you want your turtle to respond to you/be less shy, he has to be exposed to more you/more activity.

I see the difference with my own turtles. My RES is in a stock tank in the living room and, in spite of it not being a clear enclosure, can see a lot of the activity in the room when he's basking. He's grown quite mellow with me, but instinct will still prevail at times, and for what ever reason he'll dive back into the water.

Four of my painteds are in stock tanks, away from activity and people. They remain much more skittish than my RES or other painted, whose in a glass tank and who sees my every move when I'm in the room with him.