Do tortoises give love bites?

[Oxalis]

I did a little bit of research in the forums here and it seems that most of the time, the tortoises associate a person with food and that's why they may bite. I do know the Aldabra tortoise Mzee (who is well known for his friendship with the hippo Owen) will give his friend love bites [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_and_Mzee]. Do other species like the Russian tortoise do this as well? Just curious! Thanks!

 

[Tom]

No. They are not "love" bites. They are attempts to drive another out of their territory, attempts to mate, as in the case of russian males who bite the females legs to get them to stop running and sit still, or it is an attempt to sample the edibility of something.

 

[WillTort2]

I think in the case of biting his keeper; it's a "hope" bite as in "I hope this is more food".

 

[Oxalis]

Haha, OK, I totally understand! ;D Thanks!

 

[biochemnerd808]

Like Tom said, RTs might bite for different reasons. If an RT is biting a human it's most likely a 'your finger looks like a carrot' bite... or a 'your red toenail polish looks like a yummy berry' bite... or maybe a 'hey, this looks like it might be edible' bite.