does my russian hate me?:P

[towelie200]

hey all! i was feeding my tort today, i have always helped him eat. but today he ate a hibiscus flower and he just backed off and went into his shell. then he got all "defensive" by sleeping in his shell too. i dont know if i scared him or he hates me XD such an odd question i know! just trying to make the tort happy

 

[dmmj]

I honestly don't think tortoises can hate, you more than likely startled him.

 

[ascott]

Ditto

 

[Laura]

I would encourage him to eat on his own.. Does he need help eating?
Maybe he didnt like the taste of something on the flower.

 

[bigred]

They usually like the people that FEED them

 

[JoesMum]

Seriously, don't get into "helping your tort eat"

They start associating you with food and then won't eat the stuff you put on the floor.

Put the food down and walk away. A hungry tort doesn't need help and will eat.

 

[clare n]

I doubt very much that he hates you lol. I doubt that he adores you either though lol. I think we are all just waitresses to our tortoises.... "oh look- there's the food lady!" *trundles over rather quickly, gobbles it up, buggers off again with his back to us* "that'll do for now, see you later when you may bring more. If not, do one, I'll find some myself."

Agreed, you prob just startled him with a quick movement and caught him off guard. If you are after a loyal pet that looks at you lovingly, it's not a tortoise

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

hey all! i was feeding my tort today, i have always helped him eat. but today he ate a hibiscus flower and he just backed off and went into his shell. then he got all "defensive" by sleeping in his shell too. i dont know if i scared him or he hates me XD such an odd question i know! just trying to make the tort happy

I'm sure he still loves you!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I agree with the above comments. Just set his food down and watch him eat, or walk away (watching is, of course, much more interesting). Some tortoises and box turtles do learn to eat out of their keeper's hand. This is very fun, but shouldn't be necessary. I bet you're little guy just got scared, and needed a few minutes to come out of his shell. Some tortoises are bold, and others are more fearful, possibly due to having survived attacks in the past.