Other Turtle Discussion :: What to do during a turtle attack?

[Pizza]

This hasn't happened to me yet, but just out of curiosity, what's the best form of action to take if your turtle ever bites you,

- either a light nip with slight pain and bleeding/loss of skin,
- or if it just chomps down hard and won't let go (particularly with your finger)?

Often when I do partial water changes I have my hand in the water for a few seconds, and one of them always swims faster than average towards my fingers, thinking it's a Rosy Red or an oversized pellet. Then yesterday I had my small fish net in there dropping off a few Feeder Fish I just got, and another one darted towards the net and had half the net in its mouth in less than a second (two feeders were still inside), and I tried pulling the net out but after 15 seconds of struggling, it ripped and my turtle got the contents inside, along with a little net mesh. Apart from a fish net with a huge hole and bits of fish guts stuck to the side of it, I was fine, but it did open my eyes if instead of the net inside my turtle's mouth, it may have been my finger,

[jenaero]

When mine bite they usually hold on for dear life and wiggle around trying to get a chunk out. The best thing to do (imo) is to wait for them to let go. Our reflex is to pull the hand away but that can send the turtle flying across the room and you don't want that. Even if it draws blood, it's not completely intolerable. Just wait. You could distract him with the other hand and it might help.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Well said, Jenaero!

[Turtle addict]

Put the head under water, they will have to get a breath of air, and let go faster. Personally it's very hard to not pull back when they are larger and bite, I did and the 8 inch res took a chunk of finger with her. A baby not so bad, but they can hurt and draw blood.

[Pizza]

If you wait for them to let go, on average, how long does it take, and how painful is it? Will they continue to apply further pressure as time passes, or keep the hold as it is?

I'm mainly concerned with my 10 inch turtle and the 8 inchers I also have, the 10 inch one could probably fit both my thumbs in its mouth,

Also, just wondering, can a large enough RES break off a finger?

[jenaero]

The largest I've been bit by was about 8in. Took a chunk out. He held on and wiggled...reminded me of a shark the way he tried to take a chunk out. I have a pretty high pain tolerance so I dont know what it would rate on a pain scale for you. I can tell you it hurts less than being bit by a camel

I'm not sure an adult res could break a finger off....I'd say probably not.

[Pizza]

Well good to know, thanks for the help, I'll let you people know how it works out when/if I get bit by my turtles,

[marisa]

Must be something with my turts or my fingers---whenever I've been "grabbed," they immediately let go when they realize they can't wolf down what they've grabbed on to.

[Starchick]

Luckily Napoleon's a total sweetheart, he's not aggressive at all, and the couple of times he might have bitten us, he just kind of opened his mouth and slowly moved it toward our fingers, we had plenty of time to react. If I hold my finger out to him, he'll reach up and nudge me with his nose. Probably not smart on my part, just because he hasn't bitten doesn't mean he won't, but he's been a good boy so far.

Also reminds me of my parents' cat Louie, he also doesn't really bite or scratch, but once in a while he'll get in a feisty mood and he'll clutch my hand with his paws and pinch the skin on the back of my hand with 2 teeth, and it'll just get tighter and tighter, like he's testing how long I'll let him do it.

[Pizza]

Hah, in comparison to two of my turtles, as soon as I drop my fingers half an inch into the water they sprint in the water up to my fingers like rockets and I have to be careful to pull out every few seconds.

[SpotsMama]

Pizza, your turtles sound like a pack of wolves!

[Pizza]

Well I never thought it like that before, but compared to the turtles of another, I guess my turtles are slightly more frisky, .

Whenever I do partial water changes and drop the tube into the water with one hand, I always have to have an eye on the closest turtle towards my submerged hand, and have the other ready to push it away should it come too close. No matter how many times I push them away, they always come back relentlessly,

Sometimes I have a finger up against the glass of the tank, and one of them always follows it until my finger stops running along the glass, and then it tries to chomp on it...several times. Is this the norm for everyone?

[Evelyn]

I have only been bitten once by my female turtle, she is large, it hurt.
It was really my falt I pick her up to fast and frighten her, she bit hard but let go fast. I did have the mark on my hand for feel over a week.
I make sure I pick them up from the middle of their body more toward the back so they can not reach my hand and fingers. As they get bigger and older they are strong and can use their legs to push them self right out of your hands. So times I can hardly beleive the how much strength they have.
Evelyn

[SpotsMama]

When I changed Spot's habitat a few months ago he was initially very unhappy about the change and grumpy, and he bit me. It hurt like heck! Since then he's been his normal pleasant self but I think if I let him he'd taste my finger just to see if it was good, so I keep my fingers out of his way. He paddles rapidly over to my fingers when I cleaning his tank so I have to keep moving from one end of the tank to the other to get the cleaning done. He follows my finger when I move it on the outside of his tank with great interest.

[Jayqualin]

Whenever I get bitten by Peanut, It is usually my index finger. So I use my middle and and thumb fingers and touch his ears and he lets go.