Feeding and Nutrition :: New turtle eats from my hand .

[joeybsmooth]

i just think that is so cool . I have just had him for about two weeks and he eats from my hand like he has known me forever . My older turtle does not even do that .

[BullDog]

Aww! That's so cute! ^_^

[theartbook35]

i just think that is so cool . I have just had him for about two weeks and he eats from my hand like he has known me forever . My older turtle does not even do that .

My friend, his parents had a huge turtle pond, and he could hand feed them lettuce and they'd just drag it back into the water.

Speaking of hands, Typhoon bit me yesterday. They are so used to me picking them up that I simply assumed I could start approaching them from any angle now... Hurricane will put up with anything, Typhoon not so much... She's too young to actually hurt me. I don't really think it was straight up aggression, I think it might have been more playful since she had been sort of swimming around my fingers.

[Ginko]

i just think that is so cool . I have just had him for about two weeks and he eats from my hand like he has known me forever . My older turtle does not even do that .

Man I envy you, man! My turtles did that when they were like 3 inches, now they grown up they seem even scared of my hand! They "Fly" into the water when I come close.

[Azfar]

Thats great Joeybsmooth~!

Right now my turtles are 3.5 inch both, Kiki and Riri.. and I still hand feed them.. ho ho ho.. always got nipped by them but I used to it.. heh.. sometimes hurt! but I don't care cuz I love them~!

[a and c]

I love that you can write random things about your turtles, i love reading about this kinda stuff! Thats how I know some 1 is taking good care of there baby.
I also wanted to say that my turtles started biting too, i can still feed them with my hands but im usually more careful! they jus want there food and they want it NOW! +fingers kinda look like carrots and thats wat i like to hand feed them.

[joeybsmooth]

The funny this is my other turtle seems jealous. But he will not get from my hand . He would swim right up to it ... than stick his head in his shell and swim off .

[Diamondbacks4Life]

I wish that most of my turtles wouldnt like being hand fed but they do. yea its cool to hand feed but you cant stick your hand in the water to fix anything. The turtles come swiming over fast and try to bite my hand. My turtles arent small either 6+inches. Let me tell you i got bit once and yea it really hurts.

[Sassamo]

Aww how sweet! I am too scared too hand feed Sassamo, she's a grumpy girl and bites hard lol

[theartbook35]

I wish that most of my turtles wouldnt like being hand fed but they do. yea its cool to hand feed but you cant stick your hand in the water to fix anything. The turtles come swiming over fast and try to bite my hand. My turtles arent small either 6+inches. Let me tell you i got bit once and yea it really hurts.

I've worked out certain ways to position my hands when they enter the tank... I really don't have anything better to do with my life besides my jobs, take classes, and care for my pets.

If I put my hand in the tank palm facing down, that means to them that I'll pick them up. If I put my hand in the tank knuckles down, that means I'm going to play with the larger one. One finger means chasing games as well, and both hands means I'm putting something back. As long as I keep up with how I put my hands in the tank, I expect them to keep up with this. It amazes me how observant turtles are, but how careful you have to behave around them when they are young, since they are such learning machines.

I should get a t-shirt made for myself that says something goofy like "Turtle mom" or "turtle lover", or even "Turtle Nerd".

[joeybsmooth]

Some one posted some neat turtle shirts a while back. I can not remember the name of the post to look it up for you.

[bigG]

My female RES also eats out of my hand and if I get real close to the top of the tank by the basking float, she will greet me "face to face." She's even followed me around the tank as I move. The male will usually also follow along.

[rockyntrixi]

My turtles don't bite me at all....and they eat out of my hand alot (they actually 'prefer' to eat out of my hands - like the food is 'special' somehow).

I used to train wild caught birds (20 yrs. ago - when it was legal to trap parrots) and I actually used the same technique I did with the birds, when it came to the turtles. I just let my turtles bite me all they wanted (when they were small) and did not react to the 'bite'....I wouldn't pull away or even try to get loose, I just waited for them to 'stop' and then removed my finger (yes, once they did 'cut' me kinda deep - the trick is...don't move and they are less likely to 'pinch' harder). After awhile, they stopped biting me....completely.... My 2nd one (Trixi Monkey), actually would take my finger into her shell when she would bite down....trust me, it hurt :[

The birds.....hmmmm....there was only one time where I ended up in stitches....and that was from a lovebird!!! ....not one of the 'large parrots' ever bit me as hard as that one little bird!

[mikee]

Joe-smoo I feed all my turtles by hand. It is a little more trouble than just throwing food in the tank. I do this as one is more aggresive that the others and will get most of the food. I feed the little pig first, then the others. Usually when you get one to eat from your hand the others learn quickly and follow suit. m.

[turtledlucas]

for those weho youre turtles bite you when u put youre hand in how do u play witht them