Urine as Chemical Weapon?

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seanang168

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My two torts have a habit of peeing when I am holding them in the midst of cleaning them. I wonder if this is a defensive mechanism which some animals adopted. Anyone encountered this behaviour? Just a curious observation due I was a bit annoyed when the pee lands on my legs.
 

Tony the tank

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Reptiles seem to do it often.. Snakes more so.. But not sure if it's defense or mother natures fight or flight response.. Where the animal discards any weight that might slow it down..
 

dmarcus

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I think for a tortoise or turtle it's more about being scared and in a response to that fear they pee. When I was stationed in Fort Hood they would remind us to not pick up the turtles if they are crossing the road because if you pick them up they will pee and then they will end up dieing from dehydration..
 

dmmj

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I was always told it was a defense mechanism, when a predator picks up said tortoise they often pee, so that the predator would then drop them, I can' find any type of verification on this, besides second hand tales.
 

dmarcus

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dmmj said:
I was always told it was a defense mechanism, when a predator picks up said tortoise they often pee, so that the predator would then drop them, I can' find any type of verification on this, besides second hand tales.

I can see that as a good reason, I know when mine pees while I am caring it, I will hurry up and get him to where I am going so I can put him down...:D
 

seanang168

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I was watching a documentary about chimps on tv and they actually use pee as a defence mechanism when they are on the tree top and the tigers below actually ran away! So it really could be a defence mechanism ha
 

Turtle Guru

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seanang168 said:
I was watching a documentary about chimps on tv and they actually use pee as a defence mechanism when they are on the tree top and the tigers below actually ran away! So it really could be a defence mechanism ha

i think that i have read something like that before too. Neat huh :D LOL
 

bobbymoore

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seanang168 said:
I was watching a documentary about chimps on tv and they actually use pee as a defence mechanism when they are on the tree top and the tigers below actually ran away! So it really could be a defence mechanism ha

i do that to people who knock on my door
 

jbean7916

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seanang168

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That is an interesting article about the 91 year old man! So urine is an universal weapon! Actually my torts poo at times when I am holding her vertically, I guess aided by the gravity. It is quite funny to see her face as she pooed. Her eyes would be wide opened as if going to pop out!
 

Sky2Mina

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Urine a lot of trouble! lol

My torty does pee on me often when I pick her up. I think it's a defense mechanism. And it works. I'll then put her down and go wash my hands.... :D
 

lttjun

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i rather think that they were scared more than defense mechanism but i also know that they use it to keep the humidity in their enclosure when the temperature becomes to high cause some times i saw them sleep on their own pee
 

agiletorts

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Not sure if it's self-defense mechanism or just being scared, but I observe this behavior in my stars and leopards, but not in my testudos (hermanns and greeks).
 

seanang168

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Just an update on this discussion, I was browsing a book on reptiles recently and the expert writer mentioned that reptiles tends to defecate when handled. So this is an established scientific observation then. :)
 

Sammy

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When I took my star to the vet's, she climbed onto my palm and sat there for a while with her eyes closed. Then the nurse took her away to weight her and held her in her palm. She immediately peed and pooped on her. Maybe that's her weapon.
 

nikki0601

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My sully pees on me as well, usually when I pick him up and try and examine his shell, I have to press on it rub it etc, make sure it is progressively getting nice and hard, he hates it
 

seanang168

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Sammy said:
When I took my star to the vet's, she climbed onto my palm and sat there for a while with her eyes closed. Then the nurse took her away to weight her and held her in her palm. She immediately peed and pooped on her. Maybe that's her weapon.
This is funny Sammy. So did u make up for this to the nurse? :p
 

Sammy

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Apologized and told her 'my tortoise doesn't normally do this, u must be special'
 

Missi

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Just adding my two cents that my reptiles do this as well as my amphibians! :rolleyes:
 

tortoises101

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In South Africa in parts of the Karoo, angulated tortoises have been known to squirt pee up to 1m with deadly accuracy. :p
 
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