Do they really hurt that bad? No, tortoise don’t have teeth, when they eat they simply bite small chunks that they swallow directly. Depending on the type of humans has been answered, you might be wondering if tortoises bite each other. The area of the bite might display a red indented mark for several hours, but it will ultimately go away after some time. In general a turtle will only bite if it feels in danger, or they mistaken you for food. Turtles are one of the most popular house pets in the world. where the tortoise will feel provoked and feel the need to bite their human caretakers. They will not normally be aggressive for no reason. The answer is yes again. No, tortoises are not aggressive animals. In general a tortoise will not be the first one to initiate any kind of interaction, ( you can find out why in this article: Are Turtles Social or Solitary Animals? in any way, it will probably snap at your fingers, or anything within reach, in Kittens and young tortoises will play and fight with each other. It's an alarming and bewildering sight: a tortoise creeps toward a cat that's sleeping or eating, then bites or uses its shell to hit the unsuspecting feline. If I were to rank the pain from a box turtle bite as a 4, I would have to rank the pain from a hermann tortoise as a 3.5, there is a small difference, but nothing major. If you want to protect your toes then you should hide them, so don’t wear slippers, or any kind of footwear that will keep them visible. Males will … In general a tortoise will only bite if it feels in danger, or they mistaken you for food. Yes, they are incredibly docile animals. (with Pictures and Video), Are Snapping Turtles Dangerous? The force of a tortoise bite will depend on the type For this article I also let my box turtle bite my forearm, the pain was a little worse than the rest of them, but nothing that bad. Now that the question of whether or not tortoises bite It left me with a few signs, but they went away shortly after. Are tortoises dangerous? The most common places you can get bitten by a turtle are you fingers and your toes. When it comes to male and female tortoises together in Sulcatas are solitary animals and do best housed by themselves. After all, why would they need such a strong bite to munch on leafy greens? Although most tortoises are vegetarian and rarely eat any kind of meat, they can snap at your finger if they see it in front of them and mistake it for something tasty! disputes, the tortoises are very likely to take a few snaps at each other at Young turtles may not be strong enough to break your skin, but those with a … Similar Images ... #66390760 - Russian tortoise (Agrionemys horsfieldii), also … A more obvious reason for tortoises biting each other would be self-defense, which relates to the category of establishing dominance. I would also recommend to go to the doctor after you have disinfected it. TurtleOwner.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Males will bite other males. The hermann tortoise is around 6.5 inches and is a herbivore, so it doesn’t eat meat at all. Like most animals, if it feels threatened Fruit is an important part of a tortoise's diet, but equally important is limiting the amount they … The reason why most turtles end up smelling is because... We are a passionate group of writers and researchers who write about pet turtles and tortoises. In general tortoises are very docile and peaceful creatures, so you wouldn’t expect to see one of them trying to bite you or someone else. The mastiff was more offensive minded, with a bite force of 556 pounds. If you find our articles helpful, and you like our site we would like to ask for your help. And try to leave the tortoise alone for a while, as I said they usually bite because they are stressed, they feel in danger danger, or they thought they were eating food, no matter why they bite you they will feel a little agitated for a while, so it’s better to leave them alone. If someone is poking around the turtle’s head/face and the turtle feels scared, they will likely get bitten. The size is a very important factor as well, the bigger the tortoise the more muscles it will have, the bigger the jews will be, so the bite will be grow in power along with the tortoise. As an example here is what a Testudo graeca tortoise bite looks like. will both get into fights and mate, which inevitably includes biting. Although these types of problems usually happen with The best way to protect your fingers is to keep them away, so don’t feed your tortoise with your hand, you can just place the food on the ground. Before telling you how the bites feel, let me tell you how big and what diets they have, this way you will have a better understanding about how those factors come into play. They told me that the tortoises would compete for food, for the basking spot, for space. After a tortoise bites you you have to be very careful what you do with your hands, do not put them near your mouth, or near food. The first reason why a tortoise would bite another of its own kind would be to establish some kind of dominance. To protect themselves when they feel threatened, To establish dominance (usually male tortoises). The box turtle is 6 inches and it has a diet that includes meat, fruits and vegetables. Now that you have an idea of what a bite feels like, let’s see what to do and what not to do if you get bitten by a tortoise. Meat is a lot harder to bite than vegetation, so you will need a more powerful bite, and a sharper mouth. All of these reasons should be taken into consideration in order to avoid many of the unnecessary tortoise bites that could come your way. At the moment there are no scientific data available about the bite force of a tortoises, the only data I could find are about snapping turtles. (with Bite Facts and Videos). Even though they do bite from time to time, they have a reputation for being docile. However, there are instances where biting could occur. something, the strength of their jaws should not be underestimated. Turtles don’t have a strong natural smell. If you see any blood you should drop everything that you were doing and go disinfect the wound, even if the wound is small it can still get infected, and that can be very dangerous. Do tortoises and turtles bite? The tortoise was a defensive expert that could retreat within its tough shell. This could happen if a new tortoise was placed into the same area as another. The diet. Even If I couldn’t find any reliable informations about the power of a tortoise bite, I can still tell you about my first hand experiences with tortoise bites. Male tortoises will use this tactic to establish Especially if your pet is new to you, he or she might not be used to your sounds and smells yet so avoid putting your fingers within reach of their mouth. If after a minute it still won’t let go, then you should dry to pour some water on it, but do so very carefully. A tortoise can also bite you if you try to feed it with your hand, they usually do this by mistake, sometimes they can mistaken one of your fingers for food, or they can just simply bite it without intent. Nevertheless, these two — the tortoise and the mastiff — “tangled” one day and the results were terrible. We are a passionate group of writers and researchers who write about pet turtles and turtles in general. would be in the name of self-defense. It’s simply because tortoises are opportunistic feeders. Let’s look at what the reasons for biting are so that we can prevent unnecessary harm. Although turtles don’t have teeth, they do bite and some can bite hard. Now that the most common situations when a tortoise will try to bite you are covered, let’s see how powerful the bite of a tortoise is, in this part I will also tell you how it feels to be bitten by a tortoise from my experiences. dominance amongst the females as well, which we will go into in the next The answer is yes again.Tortoises do bite each other. Softshell turtles belong to the family Trionychidae. Turtles do bite each other. Do tortoises bite? order to protect itself. They can bite to establish dominance, they can bite for mating reasons and they can bite during a fight. Do Box Turtles Bite? If a tortoise is hungry it will try to eat anything that it’s remotely similar to food. But like every animal, tortoises must have some way to defend against predators, and biting seems to be a very efficient way for most animals to defend themselves. So, you wouldn’t want to end up with anything near the mouth of a carnivorous tortoise, or else you might come out with a severed finger. The simple answer is yes. Tortoises are opportunist feeders, and the tortoise is wanting to try your toes out to see if they’re a tasty dessert. If you are interested to find out you should check the article out. And in this process your wounds are only going to get worse. When we talk about how powerful a tortoise bite is we have to look at the factors that influence the bite. link to How Much Do Turtles Cost? general, because they use their strong snappers to establish dominance. Bites from a young turtle will have no major effect on your skin and will certainly not hurt like bites from an adult turtle. As a rule, you should prevent small children from handling turtles and tortoises, mostly due to the possibility of spreading salmonella. On this site you will find articles that cover every basic thing that a turtle owner needs to know, as well as all the advanced stuff. Happened to me when I was four. A turtles bite can be very painful even when they have no teeth. When it comes to handling pet tortoises you have to remember that it’s origin and its age are also very important. While bites are rare and usually unintentional, it can hurt. extremely painful, due to the fact that these tortoise species need to chew section. If the tortoise that bit you is your pet tortoise, you should let it rest peacefully for some time and come back again later, if you have any business with the tortoise . But if they feel threatened, they would try to skip from the predator by biting them. Some of them won’t necessarily think this as soon as you start walking towards them, but if you touch them they will usually start running, try to hide in their shell, or it will try to bite you. When your fingers get bitten by a box turtle you won’t feel too much pain or any kind of discomfort, fingers are relatively thought and the bite of a box turtle isn’t that powerful. If you want to find out if a tortoise bite will be powerful or not, the first thing that you want to know is if it eats meat or not. A tortoise is generally able to tell the difference between a human and a small piece of meat or a vegetable, but under certain circumstances they can easily mistaken one of your fingers or toes for something that kind of resembles with something that they would normally eat. And the origin of the tortoise is also very important, if the tortoise comes from the wild it will definitely be a lot more defensive, and it will try to bite a lot more often than a tortoise that was raised in captivity. If a tortoise feels that it’s in danger, and there is no way for it to escape, it will think that there is no other option than to attack before it’s attacked, so it will try to bite you. Yes, turtles do bite. (with Pictures and Video) ), this also means that they also won’t think of biting you as soon as they see you. Now that we know that a tortoise will bite, let’s take a closer look at the situations where it will bite, how powerful the bite is, and what to do and what not to do if you are bitten. My box turtle was a full grown adult when he bit me, so a bite shouldn’t normally be more powerful than the one I experienced. Tortoises have well to all vision rounds are smell sense organs is very good. Doing anything else will only worsen the situation. males, both males and females can get into these types of quarrels. But be careful in hand-feeding them small bits - they could inadvertently include part of your finger as the snack. So, let’s take a look at dog bites and tortoises and how you can help prevent a dog bite in the first place and how to treat your tortoise if it does get bitten. Hello, I am Phyllis, and I have 20 years of experience in working with animals at the zoo, and I am also the owner of 4 tortoises and one little cute turtle. But if you handle them too roughly, there is a good chance that it will try to bite you, especially since it has no place to run. Can tortoises live with other pets? However there are a few caveats, which we discuss here in this article “Can Tortoises Live With Other Pets?” Mainly, you want to be careful with young or playful pets, big or aggressive pets and animals that might be sick and contagious. In general box turtle bites are not that bad, but the amount of pain you will feel depends on the area that was bitten. If tortoises ever get into a disagreement of any kind, one of their solutions is to fight it out with their jaws. There are four classes of bite and tortoises are very likely to survive 2 out of 4 bites. However, they can mistakenly bite a human. If you hit the tortoise it will only apply more pressure to the bite, and will stay there for longer. You can probably expect to have your skin turn red for a few minutes, but that is usually all. Wild tortoises are relatively easy to scare, so if you get too close to one that is not entirely used with humans, you can make it think that you want to attack it. of diet that the specific species of tortoise adheres to. Due to the fact that tortoises and turtles visibly do not have teeth, most people would assume that the strength of their jaw alone could not do that much damage. The first reason why a tortoise would bite a human Russian Tortoises generally do not bite under usual circumstances. The biggest difference between when you bite your own finger intentionally, and when a turtle bites your finger is that you didn’t expect that. On the other hand, pet tortoises, are a lot more used to humans, so they won’t try to bite them as soon as they touch them. A more obvious reason for tortoises biting each other would be self-defense, which relates to the category of establishing dominance. (With 20 Examples and Pictures), link to Do Turtles Smell? Required fields are marked *. Welcome to the site and we hope you find what you’re looking for. As I said in the beginning most tortoises will try to bite a human if they feel that they are in danger or if they mistaken them for food. I own a female Hermann tortoise and one male Box turtle, even if the box turtle is a turtle and not a tortoise, it still looks, acts and lives in the same habitats like most tortoises, so I am going to add him to the story as well. If I remain unbiased and come up with the correct answer, I have to admit that box turtles do bite. While tortoises are peaceful pets, they do occasionally bite. This is probably something everyone wonders about when thinking of getting a tortoise (or two!). Sulcatas Bite Other Tortoises. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the accident or incident your tortoise has been involved in, knowing what to do to in the moments immediately after the event can be critical, so it’s worth knowing … Now that we know that a tortoise will bite, let’s take a closer look at the situations where it will bite, how powerful the bite is, and what to do and what not to do if you are bitten. Now that the question of whether or not tortoises bitehumans has been answered, you might be wondering if tortoises bite each other.Since these tiny household pets seem to be so aggressive toward their humancaretakers, do they display the same energy toward other members of theirspecies? some point or another. species? And I want to share my experience with everybody that is in need. A turtle bite can be dangerous depending on the species of turtle and its age. The fact that tortoises bite both humans and tortoises, and even eat other tortoises in extreme and rare cases, brings us to the topic of how strong their bites really are. The bites of the hermann tortoise were somewhat easier to endure, but the difference was not that significant. through more dense food on a daily basis. The answer to this question is that tortoises can As a means of marking their territory and settling (with Bite Facts and Videos), in this article, as the title implies, I talk about how dangerous snapping turtles are, I give more informations about their bite, and I also explore the reasons why they are a lot more aggressive than other turtles and tortoise species. Additionally, there will only be rare circumstances Yes, tortoises do bite. versus carnivore tortoises. Yes, tortoises do bite. If a tortoise bites you because it’s stressed, don’t stress it any more. Usually, it happens during hand feeding or when they are hungry and “test bite” to see if something they see is edible. However, there are several ways using which you can stop turtles from biting each other. No, they don’t bite. There’s a reasonable prognosis with the 3 rd type, but the 4 th is most likely to be fatal to the tortoise. If the tortoise bites you and doesn’t want to let go, you have wait until it releases the bite. Yes, tortoises do bite. Overall I would say that the pain you feel when your box turtle bites your finger is the same pain you will feel if you were to bite your finger, it’s not an unbearable pain, it’s more of a discomfort. Tortoise bites are more common in the males in If a wild tortoise seems very agitated you should try to keep your distance, it can always bite you if you get to close. It’s especially important to know if they can harm young playful children or other pets. If you hit the tortoise until it loses its life, or goes unconscious things will only get worse for you, because at that point the jaws are going to apply even more pressure, and the tortoise won’t be able to release it. As a tortoise owner, keep in mind the situations we discussed today so that you’re not in the way when it happens! They can bite to establish dominance, they can bite for mating reasons and they can bite during a fight. This bacteria lives in the intestinal tract of most reptiles, and it can cause illness in humans. If you own a tortoise and you don’t want to get bitten than you should make sure that it’s well fed. Now let’s move to the next common case when a tortoise will try to bite you. But in general your turtle will not bite you without any good reason. tortoise that you choose to have as a pet, you might experience minimal to Also, domesticated box turtles sometimes will bite fingers if handled carelessly. Yes, tortoises can live safely with other pets. Can I Train My Turtle To Stop Biting? Your email address will not be published. So the herbivore tortoises have a pretty hard bite, but you will most likely only feel a right pressure similar to a pinching feeling. Fruit. They told me that they would bite and ram, and … Like many animals, sometimes they can be unpredicatable. A couple of hours should be enough time for the tortoise to calm down. So both of them are about the same size, but their diet is considerably different, now to the examples. Biting generally occurs when a turtle feels threatened or whoever is handling them is not taking due care. Tortoises do bite each other. Well, if tortoises have the ability to take a chunk While this can come as a shock to many people, the aggression that tortoises let out on humans and other tortoises can potentially reach this level. If your When we got our first baby tortoises, they used to snap at us occasionally. The name “snapping tortoise” might be an automatic disqualifier for families with small children. Don’t stress out tortoises, even if they are peaceful by their nature, they will still attack you if they are stressed out and they feel in danger. caretakers, do they display the same energy toward other members of their Carnivorous tortoises, on the other hand, will be able Just leave the area and leave it alone. Tortoises are herbivores and very docile in nature. From my personal experience, if you want to avoid having your tortoise mistaken your toes or fingers for food, you should never walk without shoes around them, especially if there is tall grass in the area, or any kind of dense vegetation, and you should avoid feeding them directly with your hand. There are a lot of tortoise species, and they are quite different, even individuals in the same species can be quite different, so it will be kind of pointless to talk directly about species, instead we are going to look at the following things: the diet and the size. The pain went away just as fast, and signs left after went away at almost the same rate. this might have been it. These provocations can be anything from picking them up to moving them or bumping into them. They can bite to establish dominance, they can bite for mating reasons and they can bite during a fight. In the case of a small, harmless bite, like the ones from my tortoise, there isn’t much that you have to do. The first reason why a tortoise would bite another of it… to mate. damage a tortoise bite can really do, to both humans and other tortoises. So as I said, even if it seems counterintuitive, the best thing to do is to peacefully wait until the tortoise releases the bite. If you have ever considered bringing a pet tortoise into your home, you have probably wondered if they could potentially bite you while you are caring for it. If a tortoise bites you and doesn’t want to let go, you don’t want to pull or to hit the tortoise. So the bite of tortoises that eat meat has evolved to be a lot more powerful, and in the case of some species they also evolved a sharp beak that will make the bite a lot more powerful and a lot more dangerous. The most general classification would be herbivore If your dog decides to throw your tortoise around like a chew toy, or you come home to find your tortoise has escaped his enclosure and fallen down the stairs, the most important thing to do is, or course, not to panic. A doctor will be able to tell you if any further treatment for the wound is needed. TurtleOwner.com is owned and operated by The Turtle Owner Team. This is not because the ones that don’t eat meat don’t get enough proteins or something like that, no, they don’t meat because this is the way that they have evolved. The tortoise is a very interesting and versatile animal, with different species making homes in habitats all over the world. The case where they feel in danger is a little more obvious, but the one with the food is a little stranger, so let’s start with that one. Whether they feel threatened, are hungry or it is time to mate, you are likely to witness a snapping mouth at some point. out of another tortoise’s leg for food when they are desperate to feed on However, as long as they’re treated well as pets, it shouldn’t happen too often! It’s good to know what to do and what not to do if you get bitten, but even better is to know how to avoid, so let’s talk about as well. Tortoises can carry a lot of germs and sometimes even bacterias, so spreading them is not a good idea. Over time I kind of got used to the idea that I can get bitten by them, so the pain started to be less significant, and I personally think this is because the element of surprise is starting to go away.