Odd Behavior

[MzNENA]

Our 3 month old Iberra Greek Tortoise has started to exhibit some odd behavior, today.

He lives in a 30"×22", 66 liter under the bed storage bin.



He's been a timid little hatchling since we've had him (almost 3 weeks now) and he's exhibited the same behavior since he's arrived. Eat, eat, sleep.He never ventures past his food bowl in his enclosure & remains only on the left side until early morning hours in which he travels to the far end where his half log is when we are not around. He's had a new 125w Mercury UVB basking light for a week now & still mostly same behavior. Eat, sleep. He is soaked twice a day.

Today I went off to fetch his breakfast. When I returned, he was climbing up a corner of his enclosure, scratching at the plastic, as though he was trying to escape! :s
I layed down his food dish & removed him from the corner.
He rushed over & attacked his food.



I checked his basking area for imperfections & started dusting off his rocks which were covered in substrate. He usually never bothers me whatsoever, but today he took one look over at me, darted over as fast as his hatchling body could take him, raised his left hand at me & made a waving motion at me. Looked like was "Shooing" me away! :huh:

I ignored & continued dusting away. He then crawled over & tried to bite my fingers! When I raised my hand in surprise, he did the "Shooing"/waving motion with his left hand again! :dodgy:

He (i still assume is a he lol) has never been aggressive. Always shy, except around food. Hand feeds from me all the time. But has never tried to bite me.

This attemtped escape, shooing motion, attempted biting. .
What is this behavior?

Don't want our little tort baby to hate me, I'm his only care taker :-/
Thought he'd be too young, to suddenly be this aggressive
Has anyone else's tortoise exhibited this behavior?

 

[ascott]

These are all normal tortoise behaviors....he is not being aggressive, he is being alert--the leg waiving in the air is actually a digging type motion that is used to climb/ remove debris/ hold down and tear down food--there are a variety of reasons for this motion, not really a behavior....

The hissing sounds is surprise and is simply air expelling quickly when they move in their head or limbs or simply out of surprise...

The tortoise trying to "escape" can be that he sees a possibility to get over the top edge of the enclosure--this is also very normal, so perhaps you use something to make a lip that hangs over the edge into the enclosure so he does not see the opportunity---nothing personal here, just nature to get going....perhaps you can combine two totes to allow for more space for the tort to move about---

Biting, if you ever offer food to the tort while holding the food then you have encouraged the biting action....also, if you place the food in the enclosure while the tort is not looking directly at your hand and then leave-- the tort will simply gravitate towards the food area and less likely to associate you/your hand with the food....

 

[Yvonne G]

RE: Odd Behavior

In my opinion, he is trying to eat the hand that feeds him. You are not just the food god, you are actually the food.

 

[MzNENA]

Think I will try and create a lip around the corners of his enclosure now to prevent further attempts of escape. Thank you for that!

Should I stop with the hand feeding to prevent further biting?

 

[ascott]

Think I will try and create a lip around the corners of his enclosure now to prevent further attempts of escape. Thank you for that!

Should I stop with the hand feeding to prevent further biting?

You can do a lip---you can also use an identical tote, flip it upside down and cut most of the bottom out (which will eventually be the top) then place it right on top of the current enclosure (which will become the bottom)..secure the two together and this will offer you a deeper enclosure with less of a visual prospect for the tort to scale the walls---it will also help hold in some moisture/heat and with the cut out area your lights/heat can still have direct access...

If you want to offer food by hand just understand that the tort is not attacking you out of aggression but more because, as Yvonne pointed out, your wiggly fingers are like an extension of the yummy food attached to the end of them---you are being mistaken for the food....

 

[Jlant85]

Another way of preventing him from just wanting to climb at the corners is to change his enclosure in general. I find this very useful. When building my enclosure, i make sure i build him or her a jungle with obstacles. Where he or she can climb and about... Hope this helps ^_^v

 

[MzNENA]

Very detailed information! Thank you so much for that. I can completely visualize that so I've got my blueprint for the solution in hand now

Hahah ahh I wanted to do the hand feeding so that he would grow used to me, which he did pretty quick. I've also noticed I've been wearing a burgandy red nail polish for the holiday season which is almost the exact same coloring as the red leaf lettuces he eats (although he doesn't favor them too much) so that definitely explains and is pretty much my fault that he's been biting at my fingers haha.
Will be changing nail polish colors immediately. Thank you and Yvonne for all of your help

---

Another way of preventing him from just wanting to climb at the corners is to change his enclosure in general. I find this very useful. When building my enclosure, i make sure i build him or her a jungle with obstacles. Where he or she can climb and about... Hope this helps ^_^v

Yeah I think I'll try and build him some type of tortoise table by the end of this year as he continues to grow. For now he is pretty small in his large tub enclosure, but already a good little climber so this worries me lol As he likes to climb and fall onto his back My husband isn't too handy that I've seen but hoping this will be a some what easy task for him. lol With the many tables I've seen on this forum, there are definitely very good design ideas out there!

And love the jungle obstacle idea! Will definitely try to incorporate that into the enclosure I have now, so he doesn't grow easily bored lol

 

[Jlant85]

Very detailed information! Thank you so much for that. I can completely visualize that so I've got my blueprint for the solution in hand now

Hahah ahh I wanted to do the hand feeding so that he would grow used to me, which he did pretty quick. I've also noticed I've been wearing a burgandy red nail polish for the holiday season which is almost the exact same coloring as the red leaf lettuces he eats (although he doesn't favor them too much) so that definitely explains and is pretty much my fault that he's been biting at my fingers haha.
Will be changing nail polish colors immediately. Thank you and Yvonne for all of your help

---

Another way of preventing him from just wanting to climb at the corners is to change his enclosure in general. I find this very useful. When building my enclosure, i make sure i build him or her a jungle with obstacles. Where he or she can climb and about... Hope this helps ^_^v

Yeah I think I'll try and build him some type of tortoise table by the end of this year as he continues to grow. For now he is pretty small in his large tub enclosure, but already a good little climber so this worries me lol As he likes to climb and fall onto his back My husband isn't too handy that I've seen but hoping this will be a some what easy task for him. lol With the many tables I've seen on this forum, there are definitely very good design ideas out there!

And love the jungle obstacle idea! Will definitely try to incorporate that into the enclosure I have now, so he doesn't grow easily bored lol

---

Rebuilding the enclosure is always fun! Well for me at least. Lol I like making mine look all pretty!