Herbie nipping his own legs

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Helen Tullett

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Hi all,

Great to be on here:)

My little 3 year old male Hermanns Herbie is displaying some new beahviours recently.

I took him to the reptile vet for his check up and she said he was healthy and happy and that it was quite normal for tortoises to nip and bite at things.

Herbie has recently started to nip at his own front legs for several minutes until I stop him. He seems to be doing it more frequently but never breaks the skin.

Could he be hungry? I feed him every day now & feed him a variety of foods including flowers and weeds.
Does anyone have any experience of this as it's certainly bothering me as well as little Herbie, I just wish he could talk to tell me himself ;-)

BIG thanks
Helen
 

GBtortoises

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This is a new one for me! I've never had one of mine or heard of one, biting at their own legs. I will say that it really isn't "normal" for Hermann's tortoises or other Testudo species to "nip and bite at things". The only cases where that would be happening is: a) when they're testing a potential food source or eating food or b) when the nipping and biting is a part of either sexual courtship, dominance or territorial defense. It's not a sign of being hungry or by no means a "normal" activity outside the realm of what is listed in a or b above.

Is the biting taking place while he is eating or outside of that activity? If it is taking place outside of when your tortoise is eating what are the circumstances at the time? Is there possibly left over food on it's lower legs when the biting takes place? What is the light intensity when this takes place? My first guess would be that your tortoise is smelling some residue of something on it's legs that smells like food or could possibly have vision problems. The more information that you can provide to us here the better chance we may come up with a solution. Even photos would help!
 

Helen Tullett

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Thankyou both!

That does actually make a lot of sense!

He normally bites when he's outside his tortoise table, either having a run around the house or around the garden hence why I catch him doing it as am usually with him. He never does while he's eating but it might be a bit darker than his enclosure so he could be mistaking it for food. Herbie is always sniffing and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he can smell food on his legs ( I feed him from a very flat surface as he had problems eating from his tortoise bowl from the pet shop) so he normally is in and amongst his food whilst eating.

The reptile vet also mentioned that sometimes they nip because of joint problems? I've emailed them aswell to see whether I should make another appointment.

He seems happy in every other way but just wondered if anyone else had experienced it on here.

I will take a picture the next time he does it so that you can see it but smelling his food makes the most sense to me!

Thankyou!
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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I should also mention my box turtle also bit himself on the forelimb once when he was trying to catch a cricket, but this was obviously painful, as he recoiled from it and never did it again. I wonder if your tort isn't smelling some kind of food on his limbs and trying to get at it. If it is joint pain, then perhaps your tort is getting too much dietary Vitamin D, which is fat soluble. An excess of Vitamin D can lead to abnormal bone deposition at the joints. Natural sunlight or UVB rays promote Vitamin D synthesis, but if your tort isn't getting enough light, then a little bit of dietary supplementation is appropriate. If there is a problem with the joints, then of course a visit to the vet is needed. However, I do suspect that your tort is just getting a bit greedy with his feeding. ;)
 

Isa

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Hermy was doing that last year, it lasted a couple of months... I had to stop him everytime, I never knew why he did that and my vet did not know why either...
Good luck :)
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Helen:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we know where you are?
 

Helen Tullett

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Ah thanks everyone that makes me feel better at least :)

I think you're right ref his feeding but will be keeping an eye on it .

Many thanks!

I've just attached a picture of the day we found him so at least you know what he looks like :tort:
 

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Helen Tullett

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Thanks everyone!

Yvonne I live in Somerset in the UK so quite far from you;)

It's great to be on here and to have such good advice! Looking after Herbie has become a big hobbie of mine and reading threads on here has helped enormously.

Ref his biting I spoke to my reptile vet & I've got him booked in for an appointment tomorrow so will keep you posted. He said that although it wasn't unusual for tortoise's to nip themselves every now and again it was odd that Herbie was doing it so frequently. He said he might have an irritation so will be back on over the weekend to let you know.

Thanks again!
 

bikerchicspain

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Helen Tullett

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Hi Yvonne,

Thankyou for your message. It turns out Herbie did have an irritation to his legs, the vet wasn't sure why but has given me some cream to apply daily (flamazine) and it seems to have worked it's magic. Herbie hasn't touched his legs all weekend! :)

The vet wants me to call back on Thursday with an update as he mentioned again that if Herbie were still nipping then there could be a problem with his joints so an x ray would be recommended.

So far so good though and I've an attached a picture of Herbie in the bath yesterday so you can see him!
 

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dmarcus

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Herbie looks very good and nice to hear that he stopped nipping at his leg..
 

Helen Tullett

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:)Thanks guys me too!

and so is Herbie :tort: he's acting himself again which makes me very happy!
 
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