Russian Tortoise . Do they bite?

[Diane771]

Do Russian Tortoise bite?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Yes, but mostly by accident.

Is that your tortoise?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I’ve been bit by one before, in his defence I was holding food at the timecomes damn sharp!

This Tort in the pic needs a good beak trim bless him

 

[zovick]

I’ve been bit by one before, in his defence I was holding food at the timecomes damn sharp!

This Tort in the pic needs a good beak trim bless him

Also looks as though it may have MBD as the backline is somewhat depressed at the rear.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Also looks as though it may have MBD as the backline is somewhat depressed at the rear.

Agreedmaybe he’s a rescue, is he yours @Diane771?

 

[zolasmum]

If you hand-feed your tortoise at all,you are pretty certain to get bitten now and then, because they will be too excited about the food you are offering to make the distinction between food and finger - you just need to develop very quick reflexes !
Angie

 

[Diane771]

Yes, but mostly by accident.

Is that your tortoise?

Yes, Sally I had her for 10 years and never did she bite me but yesterday she did. So unlike her

 

[Diane771]

If you hand-feed your tortoise at all,you are pretty certain to get bitten now and then, because they will be too excited about the food you are offering to make the distinction between food and finger - you just need to develop very quick reflexes !
Angie

Sally has always been a picky eater. She doesn't like veggies, fruit or most things. She eats frozen peas that I put in the microwave, She is so strange

 

[wellington]

It's like this. If it has a mouth it can bite. Tortoises move slow enough that you can move faster to not get bit.

 

[TammyJ]

Yes, Sally I had her for 10 years and never did she bite me but yesterday she did. So unlike her

We would love to help you to keep Sally happy so she won't want to keep biting you!
@Littleredfootbigredheart
@COmtnLady

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Sally has always been a picky eater. She doesn't like veggies, fruit or most things. She eats frozen peas that I put in the microwave, She is so strange

With these guys you mainly want to stick with a variety of weeds and leafy greens, there’s dried food fixers that can help with variety too she might like to try, never feed any kind of fruits.

In order to encourage her to except new things it’ll take some perseverance and tough love, tortoises are incredibly stubborn, if she only likes peas, she’ll make you continue feeding her peas unless you take charge lol, this article here is a handy read;

Introducing a Healthier Diet

Introducing a Healthier Diet

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

You can introduce new things very slowly and don’t be discouraged at the fact she’ll turn her nose up, it’ll take many attempts, but she has to learn it’s either better stuff, or nothing, no frozen peas lol, once hungry enough she will relent, the MBD could be diet related, it really would be in her best interest to start introducing more variety. Does she any kind of calcium/supplements? What type of uvb do you use?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Sally has always been a picky eater. She doesn't like veggies, fruit or most things. She eats frozen peas that I put in the microwave, She is so strange

Picky tortoises are common, but you are in charge of making sure she eats healthy. Check out the link posted by Littleredfootbigredheart on how to expand her diet.

Like mentioned earlier, her beak needs a trim. The long beak might make it harder for her to eat, and might even be the cause of a accidental bite.

 

[COmtnLady]

As Wellington said above, if there's a mouth, it can bite. But, also as said above, you are faster.

Beak trimming is really important. As a beak gets longer, not only does it inhibit eating, it can chip or crack into soft tissue - or bone! - and cause a lot of trouble. It is exceptionally difficult to stop a crack from getting bigger once it starts, twice that difficult to heal it up, and it can get deep enough to get infected clear into the bone.

Then there is the pain aspect -think of ripping one of your own fingernails into the quick, then add in the necessity of eating aggravating the pain and damage every time you move it or bump it.

It is easy enough to do a trim at home, but if you are nervous, find a vet who can help you.

Beak trim using clippers - worried about beak fracturing

Dalmation tortoises beak is in need of trim but I worry about using nail clipper to do it because I have no sense of how brittle the beak may be. My fear is that beak may split or fracture while clipping it despite seeing video like this that makes clipper trimming look easy Am I being overly...

tortoiseforum.org

Avian Vets trim bird beaks all the time and are easier to find, but if you are fortunate enough to have access to a vet that actually and genuinely KNOWS tortoises (very rare, be cautious and ask lots of questions before you allow the vet near your tortoise - and don't get talked into vitamin shots or much of anything other than only the trim. If the vet "manhandles" your tortoise it can end up with a broken jaw, so be cautious.) then try that one, but check as much as you can first. Most vets have solid backgrounds in mammals, a few have background in reptiles in general, and even fewer know tortoises. OF the few that are aware of tortoises, they might only be good with one species. It is exceedingly difficult to find a tortoise vet, let alone a really good one...

Its not good for you to feed fruit to a Russian. It throws their gut biome off, making it difficult for food to be digested well.

When you were bitten, was she acting like she was hungry? Could she have been thinking you were offering food? How did it happen?
Here's a list that might be helpful or inspirational:

good diet for russian???

dose anyone know a good diet for a Russian tort

tortoiseforum.org

A couple more ideas:

Russian Tortoise Diet

This site is dedicated to providing exchange of ideas and information to create a better understanding of the care and breeding of the Russian Tortoise. (Testudo horsfieldii, horsfield, Agrionemys, Steppe)

russiantortoise.net

edible plants

This site is dedicated to providing exchange of ideas and information to create a better understanding of the care and breeding of the Russian Tortoise. (Testudo horsfieldii, horsfield, Agrionemys, Steppe)

russiantortoise.net

My tortoise can tell Organic and "wild weeds" that I can pick from the yard, vs grocerystore/regular veggies. Since you are having a hard time getting her to eat anything but candy, if you don't have any weeds growing at the moment, get organic leaf lettuce or lacinato kale. Wash one leaf, offer it with two or three of the peas she likes, pureed/mashed, smeared on it. Leave it until the feeding the next day. Let her get a little hungry if she doesn't eat it the first few times. Don't cave and give her what she wants. She will not starve herself. Think of her like a kid that doesn't want to eat brussels sprouts or whatever; insist she eats the good stuff or she gets nothing. Inside of a couple weeks of this and she will eventually try the new food.

How often are you offering her calcium powder? (Don't add enough that you can actually see it on the greens. Just use a tiny pinch, spread over everything.) Do you have a cuttlebone in her enclosure and available at all times? Its a good idea to have cuttlebone available if you don't currently offer it.
And as LittleRedFoot asked, are you providing UVB light? It helps metabolize the calcium. You can't really do one without the other and have either do what is needed (building strong bones and general healthiness)

Are you feeding Mazuri pellets? It is balanced for the species indicated on the label, but, it is not good to feed it every day or exclusively. Its not like feeding a dog kibble - but it is a great supplement to provide with the green leafy foods, two or three times per week,.
If you are in Europe (you don't say where you are located in your avie) The_Four_Toed_Edward can help with what supplemental pellet brands to consider there.




Hope some of this is helpful.




.

 

[Diane771]

We would love to help you to keep Sally happy so she won't want to keep biting you!
@Littleredfootbigredheart
@COmtnLady

Sally is fine, hasn't bitten me since. But she is such a picky eater, doesn't like hardly anything, Fruits, veggies, and they discontinued her food. I had her for 10 yrs now, and she has always been a picky eater. i love her so much, and she loves people, just not food

 

[COmtnLady]

Here are a couple pics of how a well-trimmed beak should look. There should be no points or dents, just a nice smooth shape that fits both upper and lower mouth parts together.
'Hope this helps.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tortoise/comments/1h6dnbv/is_my_russians_beakface_ok/
https://www.reddit.com/r/tortoise/comments/1h6dnbv/is_my_russians_beakface_ok/

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