I have owned a tortoise for 6 days, this is my first one ever. I have a lot of questions, but i'll try to be brief. I got him from a rescue guy who had only had him for a few days. He is a yellow foot and maybe 7 years old. I dont have any history on him except he has been passed around a few times and his last owner didn't have a great set up for him. He has a misshapen shell (it is shaped like a saddle). I adore him but have questions about his behavior. I know about enclosure requirements and diet, but I don't know anything about behavior. He seems pretty social and walks around my house like he owns the place. I can touch his shell and have kind of petted his head a bunch. He doesn't "strike" like I have seen some turtles do, but he has started opening his mouth a lot. Not breathing, but like in a I want to fight you way. He was biting at my husbands foot and actually humped it. I assume the biting and humping was a mating thing. I'm trying to decide if the opening his mouth goes along with that or if it is a defense mechanism. He is a great eater and I have indoor and outdoor enclosures for him, although both could really be a bit bigger. He had diarrhea today but he has been eating a lot of fruit and I dont know if he's ever even had it before. I am checking his poop tomorrow at work (I work for a vet) and am going to deworm him. I have dogs that bark at him sometimes. I'm sure the dogs stress him out and he will chase them with his mouth open. I'm looking for confirmation that this is an aggressive behavior (which I realize would be normal). I want to try to minimize his stress, and am wondering if this behavior is somewhat normal in this situation.
Last edited by a moderator: