no comments yet. You should clean the wound with use hydrogen peroxide or Beta dine to prevent any infection. But the left one looks more bad. If the turtle cannot see you and suddenly your hand appears, it may get frightened and bite you. Always approach a turtle from the front so that it can see you.Step 2, Place turtles on a low, flat surface. 6. hide. I would also recommend going to the doctor after you have disinfected it. If a turtle bites you because it’s stressed, don’t stress it any more. report. @Shannon, i have the same issue but my turtles are fairly new to eachother only about 2 months but my original turtle is just recovering from a respiratory infection and he just started getting attacked by my mud turtle. Please help!! Training any animal at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, from a beluga to a stingray, is done with animal husbandry (healthcare) in mind. Now I'm gonna take it home again soon, and I found it has become a fat angry turtle. In this video, I just give a quick run-down on everything that I did to “tame” my pet yellow-bellied slider, Sheldon. Teaching bite inhibition, offering chew toys, and training are all ways to curb biting. As I said in the beginning most turtles will try to bite a human if they feel that they are in danger or if they had mistaken them for food. ... (nicknamed coop) I never did much with my old turtle besides feeding and looking at him because I didn’t know that you can train your turtle. best. Yes, Sea Turtles bite but not with their teeth. I've became a member of the turtle owner team hoping that my 26 years of experience with turtles will be of some help to turtle owners all around the world. You cant put your hand anywhere near the tank without him getting his jaw ready to snap. If a turtle bites you and doesn’t want to let go, you don’t want to pull or to hit the turtle. If you know how to take care of a turtle and learn to play with the turtle properly and gently then you shouldn't have too many problems. From my personal experience, if you want to avoid having your turtle mistaken your toes or fingers for food, you should never walk without shoes around them, especially if there is tall grass in the area, or any kind of dense vegetation, and you should avoid feeding them directly with your hand. The fingers can get accidentally bitten when you feed them with your hand. You will feel a little pain but nothing to bad. Hey so today I was redoing the water in my turtle tank & the water happen to be to hot which I take full responsibility for and I toke him out when I seen him basically burning and I was really scared/ crying I thought he was dead but he’s absolutely alive I believe he was on conscious but he’s moving around but you can tell his legs are really really hurt he can walk but not really swim I don’t know if I should take him to the vet or not just really scared. No, in general turtle are very peaceful, they only attack if they are provoked. You're responsible for your dog's behavior and are the first line of defense in preventing dog bites. Ok great. At this point you have to remember that turtles and turtles are opportunistic feeders, regardless if they are pets or wild, so when they see something that they think that they could eat, they will jump and bite it without hesitation. If you have already purchased a turtle, there are several ways to ensure that your turtle has a long and healthy life. Do this for a few days so it gets used to your scent. Its been a few days and he just hangs out on the dock and hasn't really been eating. A couple of hours should be enough time for the turtle to calm down. And try to leave the turtle alone for a while, as I said they usually bite because they are stressed, they feel in danger danger, or they thought they were eating food, no matter why they bite you they will feel a little agitated for a while, so it’s better to leave them alone. Posted on Last updated: August 14, 2020 By: Author Brock Yates. neither of them were very big.. and the "wild" one bit me once and it really didn't hurt. I did different things toward my 2 lovely turtles. Then, we need to work on its association with fingers and food. 5 years ago | 20 views. Do turtle have teeth? However,none of them try to bite my hand when I’m not holding any food. If they are unconscious, they may need oxygen. So the bite of turtles that eat meat has evolved to be a lot more powerful, and in the case of some species they also evolved a sharp beak that will make the bite a lot more powerful and a lot more dangerous. A turtle can cost anywhere between $10 and $100... Do Turtles Smell? Instead go and wash your hands as soon as possible. If they climb on you, it means they are trying to bond with you. 6. How do I care for my turtle, it was bitten by my other turtle on it both back feet. If they are unconscious, they may need oxygen. They will be 8 this year and have lived together their whole lives. The hermann tortoise is around 6.5 inches and is a herbivore, so it doesn’t eat meat at all. Is your turtle alive or unconscious? If your vet has ruled out any medical explanation for biting, make sure your cat has a daily outlet for predatory playing. First, you'll need to figure out which abilities your pet is capable of learning. If infection occurs, take your turtle to the vet. Taming aquatic turtles can be tricky, but I've tamed 2 of them. How do I train my baby snapping turtle to not bite us? At any point, the turtle thinks he will become your food! Now that the most common situations when a turtle will try to bite you are covered, let’s see how powerful the bite of a turtle is, in this part I will also tell you how it feels to be bitten by a turtle from my experiences. In general, turtles that eat meat will have a more powerful fire than those that don’t. A lot of people believe that turtles smell bad, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Overall I would say that the pain you feel when your box turtle bites your finger is the same pain you will feel if you were to bite your finger, it’s not an unbearable pain, it’s more of a discomfort. A turtle can also bite you if you try to feed it with your hand, they usually do this by mistake, sometimes they can mistaken one of your fingers for food, or they can just simply bite it without intent. The diet. It is your responsibility to keep it clean. I have even had my finger trapped in one of my tortoises shell when a loud noise startled it and it did not bite me. To slow the bleeding, cool your turtle down. @Melissa, how is your turtle doing now? If I were to rank the pain from a box turtle bite as a 4, I would have to rank the pain from a hermann tortoise as a 3.5, there is a small difference, but nothing major. Turtles can carry a lot of germs and sometimes even bacteria, so spreading them is not a good idea. It’s Thanksgiving weekend so I don’t know how soon a vet will see them. Severed limbs may heal over with no complications in most cases. Next, introduce petting by gently and slowly rubbing between its ears with your index finger. Overall I would say that the pain you feel when your box turtle bites your finger is the same pain you will feel if you were to bite your finger, it’s not unbearable pain, it’s more of a discomfort. but if the turtle was really big.. yeah it could definitely hurt. If you hit the turtle until it loses its life, or goes unconscious things will only get worse for you, because at that point the jaws are going to apply even more pressure, and the turtle won’t be able to release it. ! The best way to protect your fingers is to keep them away, so don’t feed your turtle with your hand, you can just place the food on the ground. Wild turtles are relatively easy to scare, so if you get too close to one that is not entirely used with humans, you can make it think that you want to attack it. Talk to your partner about “the difference between a light nip of a bite (less teeth, less hard), and full chomp (all your teeth, biting hard enough to leave an imprint,” he adds. If you treat your turtles just by looking at them and then routinely give food to them…then, don’t be surprise if they will only think of you as their source of food. If your cat does bite, take the wound seriously. To train a hamster not to bite, speak to it softly, then insert your hand into the cage for it to sniff. If a smaller box turtle bites you you should experience even less discomfort. It can sometimes leave a few bruises but they should probably go in a few hours ,or in a couple of days in the worst case scenario. There are several ways to build nice places for your turtle to hide whenever it does not feel safe. Christina Okay, so I've had this painted turtle since I was a little boy, but I had to leave it at my grandpa's house over the years when I moved. Hi I have two yellow bellied turtles they are both males but one of them keeps biting the other but now he has bit the other one the neck and has drew quick a bit of blood, im not sure what to do as I cannot get the stuff I need to clean the bite at this moment. In general, turtles are very docile and peaceful creatures, so you wouldn’t expect to see one of them trying to bite you or someone else. If you want to train it to catch a fish when you tell it to. but a red eared slider turtle won't grow to be very big.. not big enough to hurt when it bites. TurtleOwner.com is owned and operated by The Turtle Owner Team. My two turtles(RES and western painted) recognize me just fine and come to the side of the tank whenever I’m there, regardless of feeding time or not. I have had many turtles that let me pet them on the head and also enjoyed being scratched on the neck. I own a snapping turtle, so this is kind of relevant for me, haha. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. What to Expect and How to Prevent, What Not to Do if You Are Bitten by a Turtle, You Can Help Us Keep TurtleOwner.com Alive, Are Turtles Social or Solitary Animals? It's important that you do whatever you can to keep others safe and keep your dog from biting: Put your dog through basic training at the very least and continue to keep up your dog's training program throughout its life to reinforce the lessons you've taught it. While your local pet store is unlikely to accept your turtle, they might be able to steer you in the right direction or allow you to post on their community boards. On the other hand, pet turtles, are a lot more used to humans, so they won’t try to bite them as soon as they touch them. And yes, as soon as I saw the injuries I moved the offending turtle to a different enclosure. Your email address will not be published. Leave your turtle alone to heal, but do the necessary tasks. My western painted tries to bite, but my RES is a calm old turtle and likes a little attention. Meat is a lot harder to bite than vegetation, so you will need a more powerful bite, and a sharper mouth. If they are bleeding heavily, you need to stop it. Check out this article if your turtle is in water and not moving, you may be wondering if your turtle is drowning. How to train your puppy not to bite you. The following technique can also stop your puppy from biting, according to Jennifer Coates, DVM, an advisory board member for Pup Life T … if it was a snapping turtle then YES it would hurt. Just leave the area and leave it alone. Well, in fact, it is the same poster…I edited it a little This post is to share how I train my turtles to be the sweetest turtles in the world 100% Upvoted. i moved the mud turtle but my turtle seems to be in shock despite no injuries except for some scales hanging on his tale. For this article I also let my box turtle bite my forearm, the pain was a little worse than the rest of them, but nothing that bad. The part that won’t heal will just shrivel up and fall away. Every year TurlteOwner.com makes the world a better place for thousands of pet turtles, but right now we are having trouble keeping the site online. When your fingers get bitten by a box turtle you won’t feel too much pain or any kind of discomfort, fingers are relatively thought and the bite of a box turtle isn’t that powerful. If you hit the turtle it will only apply more pressure to the bite, and will stay there for longer. i have this turtle i dont know how old it is or what kind it is my borther gave it to me he found it... its a lil bigger than the size of a quarter but if had it for 1 1/2 years and well it opens its mouth like it wants to bite me and im scared it will ...what do i do ??? The affected area will heal itself as best as it can. You will have to let your turtle climb on you or your personal items (watch your turtle while it is doing it in case some accident happens, like pooping or getting stuck). (with Bite Facts and Videos). In the case of a small, harmless bite, like the ones from my turtle, there isn’t much that you have to do. A couple of hours should be enough time for the turtle to calm down. Some of ours are aggressive if you pull them out of the water, yet docile in the water and do not attempt to bite. Now that we know that a turtle will bite, let’s take a closer look at the situations where it will bite, how powerful the bite is, and what to do and what not to do if you are bitten. Turtles that have been handled a lot will not bite you. Browse more videos. If they climb on you, it means they are trying to bond with you. Approach a turtle is 6 inches and is a lot will not receive notification of.. Because they are really easy to care for, and will stay there for longer him react! 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