Tasting? or biting?. . . .

[SweetPete7]

Well. . . .I'm not sure if he was simply seeing if my finger was a food item, or if he was unpolitely telling me that my presense was no longer needed- but Sonne attempted to bite/taste me. . .
Has anyone here ever been bitten by a tortoise? What is the proper thing to do if they actually latch on?

 

[Macheteslaststep]

Scream?

I haven't been bitten by either of my leopards, but have been bitten by a box turtle and a DBT. Boy do they hurt! Each one only held on for a second though. Once they found out I didn't taste too good - they let go Just do not flick! Some people's first reaction when they are bitten go to flick the offender off of their finger...I would not recommend that with a hatchling biting you. They're so little they may learn to fly O.O

Saranna

 

[Annieski]

Keep your fingers further away and if he does get you---try not to pull away--if he is still latched on--- when he does let go--he'll be flying. If there's blood drawn---clean immediatly---and apply antibacterial cream and cover. JMO

 

[Greg T]

One of mine got me the other day while feeding. My fault for letting it happen. They don't seem to have great eyesight up close to their heads possibly and I didn't react fast enough. Luckily, it was a graze bite and didn't get the skin in the mouth really.

I've had box turtles close up on my fingers before which may be similar to being bitten, and while it hurts like heck, the best thing to do is relax as much as possible and wait for them to let you go. The more you freak out, the more they will too.

 

[Nay]

I heard run them under water to let go. Wish I knew that when I had a little boxie attached to my wrist for about 5 LONG minutes!!!
My leopard has never shown an interest in my flesh.
Na

 

[Laura]

probably a mistake. If you hand feed, this will happen. use tongs or be more careful!
yes, it can hurt, and draw blood. Depending on the tort.

 

[ElfDa]

Penelope likes to nibble fingers.
She looooves being hand fed, more than any other method, but when you hold her and play with her (which she begs for-- she'll fall asleep in your hands), she sometimes licks and "chomps" people's thumbs.
I think she does it to be silly, but I don't really know.

She's never bitten hard, but will keep trying until i tickle her shell or something.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

I've never been bitten by a tortoise, but I once had a falcon bite the tip top of my ear... and I never want a beak to bite me again.

If they do bite I second what was already said about washing with antibacterial soap and going through the standard stuff you do.

Also, I feel like if they bite then it's probably because you did something they 1) didn't like or 2) didn't expect or 3) didn't get. Like if they mistake your hand for food because you've been feeding them exclusively by hand for instance. I bet if you think about it after the fact you could figure out what you did that prompted your tort to bite.

 

[dolfanjack]

I have been bit by turtles before but not my torts. I can see where they could do some damage if they do bite. I think tortioses are less hostile then turtles so i'm sure it wasn't out of hostility, just a mistake. Don't think any less of him/her.

 

[movealongmosey]

My tort mosey always tires to take a little bite of my toes...I guess they look so plump and juicy

 

[heyprettyrave]

mine also goes for my toes when we out laying out in the lawn together, but shes is super good about it

 

[tortoisenerd]

Our tort is just getting large enough to be able to latch on. I'm against hand feeding on a regular basis because of the association of hands with food, but my husband likes it and does so every once in awhile (as we put it, spoiling the tortoise). We just try to be safe about it. If we had a large tort we'd use tongs for sure. I don't know what we'd do if he just latched on like crazy. The water idea sounds good, or just distracting the tort by a touch on the rear or something.

 

[turtletania]

I have been bitten by Dixie, but more of a nip. The real bite came from one of my RES turtles. She was a rescue and clearly was not handled.... she latched onto the fleshy part just near the thumb and didn't release for almost 3 minutes. It hurt so bad but amazingly only left a huge blood blister... she didn't actually break the skin.

But definitely agree you need to stay calm and just wait it out. Although the idea of sticking under water to release will definitely be kept in mind if she tries it again. ;-)