Nippy tortoise

[Noraandmarsmallow]

Hi! I just got a hermanns tortoise (marshmallow) about a month ago, and recently he's been trying to bite my finger. I've Tried things that other things like this say, And it does not seem to work. Please tell me what i should do because he is very young And i don't want this to become a habit of his.

 

[dmmj]

Do you hand feed by any chance? Remember a tortoise bites things to see basically if it is edible. He should grow out of it eventually.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forum! if you have any questions about the forum just ask! i think your little guy just might be mistaking your finger for a carrot. or does he go out of his way just to bite you?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

can you post some pics of you trying to bite you lol?

 

[leigti]

Maybe don't hand feed him for a while. I doubt he is actually being aggressive.

 

[stinax182]

While feeding my chameleon i dropped a super worm in my Russian torts enclosure be accident. He ran for it and gobbled it down. After that, e never looked at my fingers the same again

 

[leigti]

While feeding my chameleon i dropped a super worm in my Russian torts enclosure be accident. He ran for it and gobbled it down. After that, e never looked at my fingers the same again

I have heard that Russians will eat a worm. But I never believed it. does protein hurt them?

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

One of my pancakes actively chased down and gobbled down a moth. Just like a lizard.

 

[stinax182]

I wouldn't make it part of the diet but a worm here and there will not hurt. I'm unaware of his previous owners so maybe they fed him worms but he instantly went to eat it. I offered him one super worm a week because he went crazy for them..... Never saw that reaction from a tort. My other Russian wanted nothing to do with it.

 

[leigti]

It does sound like he was fed worms in the past.

 

[leigti]

I read somewhere that Russians will occasionally eat insects and carrion in the wild.

 

[leigti]

I might try it just as an experiment. Next time I feed my box turtle I worm I'll toss one into the Russian also.

 

[WillTort2]

One of my male Russians is a somewhat picky eater; therefore I will sometimes encourage him to start eating by hand feeding. Whether he likes to be hand fed or he's reacting to his territory being invaded I'm not sure. But, as he approaches my hand he puts a claw on my finger and then starts to chomp on his greens. I protect my fingers by using my thumbnail as a shield. He's also my smallest male yet the most aggressive toward the other tortoises any time he sees one of the others. And yes, they all have separate enclosures.

 

[leigti]

My tortoise will also put her foot up on my hand or finger, I think she uses it as leverage. I have noticed that she is much more willing to eat new food if I hand feed it to her. It also comes in handy if I have to give her medication, I know she will eat the food that I am hand feeding her. But she has bitten me, although I don't think that was her intention my finger was just in the way.it was a nice deep puncture wound that bled for quite a while actually, I reflectively jerked my hand and flung her halfway across the enclosure. She landed on her back and before I could even freak out about it she flipped her self back over and ran back to the food dish

 

[Noraandmarsmallow]

welcome to the forum! if you have any questions about the forum just ask! i think your little guy just might be mistaking your finger for a carrot. or does he go out of his way just to bite you?

Well, he does it every single time my finger gets near him....

 

[Noraandmarsmallow]

Do you hand feed by any chance? Remember a tortoise bites things to see basically if it is edible. He should grow out of it eventually.

Yes i do. If that's whats making Him bit then i will stop

 

[jeffjeff]

I have heard that Russians will eat a worm. But I never believed it. does protein hurt them?

they will eat them alright http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/worms.102148/

 

[Tyanna]

He associates you with food, and when you hand feed he sees everything (including your fingers) as food. Nom nomssss. Just be careful, even though it shouldn't really hurt. Mine has done it a few times when I've stuck my hand in his enclosure. If he tries a taste of you I'm sure he'll learn you're not food.

 

[Noraandmarsmallow]

He associates you with food, and when you hand feed he sees everything (including your fingers) as food. Nom nomssss. Just be careful, even though it shouldn't really hurt. Mine has done it a few times when I've stuck my hand in his enclosure. If he tries a taste of you I'm sure he'll learn you're not food.

Ok Thanks!

 

[stinax182]

My tortoise will also put her foot up on my hand or finger, I think she uses it as leverage. I have noticed that she is much more willing to eat new food if I hand feed it to her. It also comes in handy if I have to give her medication, I know she will eat the food that I am hand feeding her. But she has bitten me, although I don't think that was her intention my finger was just in the way.it was a nice deep puncture wound that bled for quite a while actually, I reflectively jerked my hand and flung her halfway across the enclosure. She landed on her back and before I could even freak out about it she flipped her self back over and ran back to the food dish

I did the game thing with my guy! Flung him across his enclosure and he landed upsidedown.... He flipped himself over real quick though and came back for another bite hahah