Turtle Behaviour

[Randi]

I have a Reeves turtle, he's over 100 grams. His name is Tiny.

Everything is great with him except one thing; he likes to nip me as I siphon in the tank.

When he was a baby, I would wiggle my finger to lure him in and I'd hand feed him some food, to get him used to me. Now, I don't really mind if he's nibbly. He's a little guy and doesn't hurt when he bites. He has started to try to bite my palms and the sides of my hands if he cannot reach my finger, haha. I enjoy having him in the tank while I do water changes. He has more exposure to me when he is in the tank while I clean. However, I am afraid that this nibbling will become acceptable behaviour if he is handled by others in or out of the tank, and with others this would probably not be okay with him acting this way. He's awesome to handle out of water, loves to have his head rubbed as well as his chin. He's got a great disposition. Is there anything I can do to discourage the biting without discouraging him to come to me? I'd like to do this without having to remove him from the tank while I'm in it for minor things.

This is strange to ask but if anyone can assist, it'd be appreciated. Thank you

 

[Delilah1623]

I tap on the tank a few times and my baby diamondback swims into my hand. I don't hand feed her because I don't want her to associate fingers with food.

 

[dmmj]

LOL, it is unusual for reeves to be nippers, but your guy associates your hand with food, the resullt of hand feeding. It is strange though for a reeves to do that, I have had my reeves for over 25 years, they get hand fed often, and they don't bite. My only suggestion is to either stop hand feeding, or put up with the nibbles.

 

[Delilah1623]

Forgot to include that when I do the tapping and she swims into my hand I take her out for feeding time so she associates being handled with good things but doesn't confuse me for food. It seems to be working well so far as he has never bitten me.... Although now that I say that I am sure it's coming lol

 

[Randi]

I haven't done it since I first got him and it only lasted a few weeks. He gets fed with reptile feeding tongs if he is to be lured and mainly his items are dropped in his feeding tub. He just continues to chase my fingers as I siphon out the water.

I guess I'll hope one day he loses interest in my hands.

I may try the tapping. Thank you

 

[Delilah1623]

Haha I just noticed on all my turtle posts half the time I say he and half the kind I say she. "It" I should say. Lol

 

[Randi]

Well, this weeks cleaning went better. I don't know what has gotten into him but he came up to me twice to get a good angle for a nip while I siphoned his tank but ended up swimming away. He's always been very interested in containers when he sees them, especially his feeding tub. He saw it yesterday and just floated at the top waiting to be grabbed. Thank you all for the advice. As I said, I don't know why he suddenly decided to stop.. maybe he's bored with my fingers. Hahahah.

 

[Moozillion]

Thank goodness!!!

 

[Randi]

Is anyone here able to determine sex on a Reeves?

My "guy" has an extremely long tail as well as cloaca placement being quite far down the tail. Also extremely long nails. I am saying male but I am unexperienced with sexing Reeves.

 

[Randi]

I see more of a V then a U. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Moozillion]

I have no clue on the gender, but am curious about what made you choose a Reeve's?

 

[Randi]

My Mom was allergic to animals with hair so I always had reptiles growing up. Most children have hamsters or dogs, etc but we weren't allowed. I had four Red Eared Sliders around the age of four until I was 18 or a little older. They got too big, we re-homed them to very large tanks (the smallest tank that one of our females went to was 190 gallons). A few years went by and I really missed them. I was looking into turtles again but smaller species so I could house it for the rest of my life. I was really interested in diamondbacks, their size and their colour. I was working at a fish and reptile place. Turtle season came and the store stocked up on babies. We didn't have the diamondbacks come in and we got Reeves and Golden Threads instead. Within a week there was one Reeves left in a tank full of Golden Threads. He got picked on pretty bad. He had a chipped shell, and was missing a nail and his foot was swelling. He was so small. I caught the other turtles using him as a basking spot and I decided that night to buy him and bring him home. His size and personality is what made me love him. He's very easy to house so far and is lots of fun. I'll never regret my decision to get a Reeves.

 

[Moozillion]

That is SO COOL, Randi!
He's very lucky to have ended up with you!

 

[Randi]

Thank you I'm very lucky to have him. He makes me smile every day. And now to own a tortoise too. My day is made starting from when I wake up hahah.