# Tortoise biting his own skin



## agnes&theo (Jan 7, 2020)

4-year-old Burmese Star tortoise has been biting his own front legs, not drawing blood, but in a mildly aggressive manner. He's extremely friendly and is not aggressive towards other tortoises in their table.
We took him to our vet. X-rays were negative for arthritis and joint problems that could be causing discomfort. Skin and joints were negative for inflammation or redness. Stool was also negative for abnormalities.
The only thing odd was this weird peeling on his neck. See the enclosed photo. His home is misted twice a day and kept at around 65% humidity. Their room also has a humidifier. He takes a bath every other day.
Has anyone else experienced this behavior or have any other thoughts?


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## Lyn W (Jan 7, 2020)

Hi He could be shedding his skin, but I don't know anything about your species so I could be way off there. Maybe you could use the search facility to see if there are any similar posts.
How many torts does he share with and are they all the same species?
Have you noticed any bullying behaviour towards him from the other torts i.e following nudging, biting etc?
Sorry for the questions but I'm just wondering if stress could maybe make him react like this.
Hopefully someone with experience of this will be able to help.


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## agnes&theo (Jan 7, 2020)

He's in a large open top table with one other tortoise of the same species and age. There hasn't been any bullying behavior and if anything he's the more aggressive personality. He's still very active, interested in food, and active outside when it's warm enough for them to play in the yard. (I live in SC.) I couldn't find anything else on the forums, except one about a young Hermans tortoise who has a skin reaction that causing him to bite as an itching mechanism.


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## Tom (Jan 7, 2020)

You can't maintain the correct conditions in an open table. Its too dry and too cool. If you use enough electric heat to keep it warm, then it dries out everything excessively, including the tortoise.

They should never live as a pair. It is very stressful on them and likely to weaken their immune system, leaving them susceptible to infection and illness.


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## agnes&theo (Jan 7, 2020)

We have a female of the same age waiting to be moved in with them, she's still in her quarantine period.

Do you prefer the glass terrarium setups?


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## LaLaP (Jan 7, 2020)

I hope someone is able to offer some advice. The peeling on his neck looks normal to me. My torts peel like that. What is his substrate? 

Btw I love your avatar photo! That is so sweet.


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## Tom (Jan 7, 2020)

agnes&theo said:


> We have a female of the same age waiting to be moved in with them, she's still in her quarantine period.
> 
> Do you prefer the glass terrarium setups?


Glass tanks work if the top is mostly covered, but they are far too small unless you buy a giant custom made monstrosity.

Closed chamber are the way to go. I've been buying mine from Animal Plastics, but now @Markw84 is making his own and they are expandable, ready to go, and he can get it to you much faster than AP. Or you can build your own.

Here are mine:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-stack-of-animal-plastics-closed-chambers.165626/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/stand-for-animal-plastics-enclosures.168915/#post-1651742


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## Yvonne G (Jan 8, 2020)

I have no idea why your tortoise is biting his legs, but I'm going to toss something out into the mix to give you something to think about.

Your aggressive tortoise wants to be alone in his territory. Since both tortoises are walled in and the other tortoise is not being able to be chased out of the territory, the aggressor is stressed. You've seen those videos where a dog is laying there and occasionally growls and bites at his tail or foot because he thinks it's another dog trying to get his bone, well your tortoise's stress about having another tortoise in his territory may be causing a reaction similar to the dog on the video. If you set the other tortoise up in his own enclosure, you may see this clear up.


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## Lyn W (Jan 8, 2020)

agnes&theo said:


> We have a female of the same age waiting to be moved in with them, she's still in her quarantine period.
> 
> Do you prefer the glass terrarium setups?


Even small groups can have problems unless you have a big enough space for them to spread out and avoid each other. My guess is the female will eventually be harassed constantly to mate which will obviously cause her stress too. They would all be happier in their own space.


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## TammyJ (Jan 8, 2020)

It would be great if we could see some pics of your setup, but in any case, what has been said is sound advice, especially regarding separating them.
What substrate do they have? I was thinking it may be an allergy to it or some bugs or mites?
Anyway, really, best thing you do now is get them separated - they don't like each other - and increase your temps and humidity to the correct levels for that species.
All the best!


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## William Lee Kohler (Jan 9, 2020)

Parasites?


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