Urgent Care :: Biting, Attacking & Other Bad Habits

[diboself]

HELP!! I have a pair of Res's. 1 male, 1 female. I have had them almost 3 years - I'm guessing they are between 4 & 5 years old. When I got them, he was fairly obnoxious and had already eaten her tail. He is somewhat vicious and will attack and try to bite with little provocation. She is very docile. She has nearly doubled in size since we got them, he has barely grown at all though he seems to eat more then she. He still attacks her. He once got his head stuck in her shell because she pulled her foot in when he bit her. Today, he is attacking her head and biting her where ever he can reach. I seperated them. He is in the warm swim area. She has the rest of the habitat (feeding tank, climbing area, warm sand, both wet & dry plant areas, etc...). I do not have room to keep them seperated for long. She will need the deeper water of the swim tank, he will need to eat (though at the moment, I'm not feeling very generous toward him). I know that they can not be really "hungry" though I have not given them pellets since yesterday because the dirt areas have eddible plant life (Aloe, lettuces, cabbage, etc... as well as worms. They also have fish & snails in the "food tank." What can I do to mellow him out? He is so obnoxious that we now have to wear gloves just to clean the habitat. Should we adopt him out and allow her to "date" other turtles till she selects a mate herself? Help!! I don't ever want to come home to shreaded turtle.

[SpenceMasta]

if you cant afford to have separate habitats you're probably going to have to get rid of one, or invest in a very large habitat and hope they have enough room to themselves to minimize confrontations

also its naive to think your female needs to date other turtles and to have a mate, she'd probably be happier to be left alone after what she's been through, your turtles might already be mating and that's what is escalating the aggression, getting more turtles to interact with your female is just adding more potential attackers as they would be invading her territory, these are reptiles and mating doesn't rule out fighting and aggression, it potentially escalates it

[SpotsMama]

I agree with Spence. One of them could be badly injured if they aren't kept apart. She's going to get fed up with his harrassment and will turn on him one of these days and could injure him very quickly since she's bigger.

Also, turtles do very well by themselves. They don't need or even like companionship - except for their humans. They seem to like interacting with people better than with other turtles.

[bradmeisel]

I agree wholeheartedly with Spotsmama and Spence. Turtles like to be alone mostly. Your very lucky there hasn't been any fatalities. Good luck.

[munkly]

yes i think u can give him to some1 who will care for a turtle frm the bottom of his/her heart! ... i knw u must be angry at little guy but they r just turtles ... if u cant afford to seperate them do place him in soft hands!

[theartbook35]

I agree with Spence. One of them could be badly injured if they aren't kept apart. She's going to get fed up with his harrassment and will turn on him one of these days and could injure him very quickly since she's bigger.

Also, turtles do very well by themselves. They don't need or even like companionship - except for their humans. They seem to like interacting with people better than with other turtles.

I've always believed that the impressions you leave on a turtle, if you really keep up with this a few times a week, are reflected on their tank mate. My turtles, Hurricane and Typhoon get along because they literally are used to frequently meeting new people and being handled. Ya live what ya learn. (Turtles like to be social. You've just gotta teach it to them. Same thing you do with your children).

But a 5 year old male? I dunno if this would work as easily. Your male turtle is pretty much trained to act this way. The biggest worry though, is that the female will turn on him, and females are bruisers. She will do some serious damage to him. I have a feeling males are harder to reason with than females. He doesn't sound like he's going to want to be nice right away, your best bet is to separate them.

As far as being handled by people is concerned, pick the male up with a towel, make sure the towel is fairly warm, too. Wrap him up front feet and all, but don't cover his face. Make sure his back is to you. Since he's a male, facing you might make him act territorially or he'll think you wanna eat him. Hold him in your lap gently, in a fairly darkened room for just a few minutes. Make this a routine, the same time every few days. After doing this for a while, just start petting his back. He'll slowly grow accustomed to this, and you should be able to pet his head eventually too. (Hurricane lets me rub her cheeks) You may want to add some food into this routine too, like a VERY small treat after being handled. Once he sees that handling is a positive experience, he won't be aggressive about it.

(Unfortunately, Typhoon is very tender-hearted, and due to some traumatic experiences caused by someone I used to live with, she is very afraid to be removed from her tank. Even by me. So, handling her has become difficult. I don't know if she will grow out of that or not.)

[bradmeisel]

Ummm, good luck. I had to separate my two even though they are both very handleable and are held often (mostly in the tank tho).