Banana wrote:Hello,
I have had a Red Eared Slider turtle for about two years now. I know they're pets more for looking but every time I take him out (to clean his tank, of course, I do not take him out for any other reason.) he tries to bite me and I'm scared that one day he'll really hurt me. I'm just curious if anyone else has a way to distract him when he is handled or to somehow tame him? Thank you so much!
**Not sure if you need this information, but: He is two years old, three and a half inches long, I have owned him since he was a hatchling, he lives alone in a 50 gallon tank, (which is soon to be upgraded) the tank has a heater, filter, and UVB light. He is very healthy!**
I have three RES and each has his/her unique personality. The oldest is a male who is about a year and a half. He is very quiet and gentle while being held, at least until he decides he wants to do something else. Then he starts thrashing around a little, but even so will often settle down again when talked to or petted. He's about 5 inches long and 4 inches wide. His foreclaws have started growing and he likes having them stroked!
The other two are females about a year old. We bought them both when they were very small babies. One weighed 9 grams and the other 13 grams! One of the females is a runt, primarily at first because she was a very fussy eater, then later because the other two bully her a lot and she has become the lowest in the pecking order. She's now about the size of your turtle. She used to like being held and would sit very calmly for petting. But she isn't so patient about it any more, even so with petting and talking she will usually settle down for a while. She likes to squirm around and poke her head out between your fingers.
The other female is nearly 5 inches in diameter already and heavier than the older male! From the day we brought her home she has eaten voraciously. She has never done more than tolerate holding and tends to thrash around a lot. She will sometimes settle down for a few seconds if something interesting catches her attention. She's big enough and strong enough that holding her securely is getting to be a challenge, especially when a claw tip digs in. Handling her will require gloves fairly soon.
None of the these turtles bite. Although when quite small, the first female mentioned did nip the wife a couple times. More of a pinch than bite since her mouth was so small then. The wife was actually teasing her by rubbing her finger tip on the turtle's mouth to entice her to open up. She did! The other female hisses at the wife sometimes. She has never hissed at me, though. They have all peed on both of us at least a few times.
My advise: handle your turtle more, pet him and talk to him. Don't just look at him. The more you interact in a positive and non-treatening way, the more he will tend to view you as a tank mate, not a big, hulking predator who intends to eat him.
