Hand biting

[bozotony]

I usually place my tortoises food inside his enclosure while its soaking. So it probably thinks some mysterious force is making food appear every time it returns from a soak lol. Ive fed Yhorm by hand twice since i got it a month ago. Now if i put my hand near Yhorm, itll try to bite. Im assuming this is due to hand feeding. I already know not to do it now because i was informed some time ago. But i did make the mistake before i knew. Will this hand biting keep happening, or will Yhorm eventually stop. Not that i mind, but i know its unwanted behavior. Sometimes i also place food in the enclosure while Yhorms in there (like some clovers i find in my yard (that have no chemicals on them)). So i feel like that might of encouraged hand biting aswell, since Yhorm sees my hand place food. This isnt a huge worry, im just curious.

 

[bozotony]

I usually place my tortoises food inside his enclosure while its soaking. So it probably thinks some mysterious force is making food appear every time it returns from a soak lol. Ive fed Yhorm by hand twice since i got it a month ago. Now if i put my hand near Yhorm, itll try to bite. Im assuming this is due to hand feeding. I already know not to do it now because i was informed some time ago. But i did make the mistake before i knew. Will this hand biting keep happening, or will Yhorm eventually stop. Not that i mind, but i know its unwanted behavior. Sometimes i also place food in the enclosure while Yhorms in there (like some clovers i find in my yard (that have no chemicals on them)). So i feel like that might of encouraged hand biting aswell, since Yhorm sees my hand place food. This isnt a huge worry, im just curious.

or does this have nothing to do with hand feeding and my tort just likes biting hands

 

[wellington]

Yes hand feeding can cause this but because they are thinking you have food not really because they want to bite you. Also be sure you dont have the smell of food on your hands. Also bright cilprs like red, orange, white, etc nail polish attracts them and they will try to bite at it.

 

[Tom]

or does this have nothing to do with hand feeding and my tort just likes biting hands

What species?

Some are just territorial. My male SA leopards chase, bite, ram, and attack me ferociously and it has nothing to with food. They want to dominate me and drive me out of their territory.

Animal behavior is my career, profession and hobby outside of work too. One of the tings I do for fun, and for work, is train protection dogs. The best reward for some dogs is a bite. There is nothing they want more in the world than a bite on the bad guy, and we use that desire to get the behavior we want out of them. Do what I want and BAM! You get a bite. Release that bite when I tell you to, and BAM! You get ANOTHER bite as a reward for letting go of the first bite. Some call it "training in drive".

What does this have to do with your tortoise? There is no drive higher than bite drive for dogs. We also use treats as a reward for most movie dogs, but the bite reward is 1000 times greater for those dogs tat like it. With my high drive bite dogs, I use food rewards to calm them down and bring them back down to more earthly levels of drive. Most dogs are brought UP by a good food treat reward. I use food treats to bring my crazy dogs DOWN. If your tortoise's motivation for biting is confusion about what is food, then more hand feeding might help it learn the difference. If your tortoise's motivation for biting is territoriality, then the food thing is likely irrelevant, but it might serve to switch his mind from attack mode to feeding response mode, like it does for my attack dogs.

Whatever the case, if your tortoise is already biting you, then I don't see how lots and lots of fun hand feeding could "create" a problem, or make the existing problem any worse. It might make the problem better.

 

[bozotony]

What species?

Some are just territorial. My male SA leopards chase, bite, ram, and attack me ferociously and it has nothing to with food. They want to dominate me and drive me out of their territory.

Animal behavior is my career, profession and hobby outside of work too. One of the tings I do for fun, and for work, is train protection dogs. The best reward for some dogs is a bite. There is nothing they want more in the world than a bite on the bad guy, and we use that desire to get the behavior we want out of them. Do what I want and BAM! You get a bite. Release that bite when I tell you to, and BAM! You get ANOTHER bite as a reward for letting go of the first bite. Some call it "training in drive".

What does this have to do with your tortoise? There is no drive higher than bite drive for dogs. We also use treats as a reward for most movie dogs, but the bite reward is 1000 times greater for those dogs tat like it. With my high drive bite dogs, I use food rewards to calm them down and bring them back down to more earthly levels of drive. Most dogs are brought UP by a good food treat reward. I use food treats to bring my crazy dogs DOWN. If your tortoise's motivation for biting is confusion about what is food, then more hand feeding might help it learn the difference. If your tortoise's motivation for biting is territoriality, then the food thing is likely irrelevant, but it might serve to switch his mind from attack mode to feeding response mode, like it does for my attack dogs.

Whatever the case, if your tortoise is already biting you, then I don't see how lots and lots of fun hand feeding could "create" a problem, or make the existing problem any worse. It might make the problem better.

redfoot, and nice, i didnt know biting was such an important factor in dog training. Interesting stuff, thanks for the response

 

[ZEROPILOT]

redfoot, and nice, i didnt know biting was such an important factor in dog training. Interesting stuff, thanks for the response

My lone male Redfoot is very territorial with me and any other tortoise.
I also have an Alpha female Redfoot that chases and bites.
The behavior of a tortoise is determined more by the individual than by the species. Although some species are already more prone to aggression. There is no species that is never territorial that I'm aware of.
Just certain individuals.

 

[bozotony]

My lone male Redfoot is very territorial with me and any other tortoise.
I also have an Alpha female Redfoot that chases and bites.
The behavior of a tortoise is determined more by the individual than by the species. Although some species are already more prone to aggression. There is no species that is never territorial that I'm aware of.
Just certain individuals.

my redfoot is around 6 inches. Its some pretty cute aggression. Looks funny when it tries to bite. Is it already reaching that sexual age now that its this size?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

my redfoot is around 6 inches. Its some pretty cute aggression. Looks funny when it tries to bite. Is it already reaching that sexual age now that its this size?

No
Not yet.
He or she's just developing it's personality and is probably feeling comfortable enough to defend it's territory