Odd behavior—sulcatta really into my toes!

[Chelly_Chaloo]

Hello,
I’ve had my sulcatta for about ten years now. Recently he has been exhibiting unusual and frankly annoying behavior. They are showing a lot of attention to my toes. Almost every time I am in my yard without shoes on, he will come towards me quickly, get way too close for comfort to my toes. He will approach it the way he approaches new food. I’ve let him get real close, making contact and snorting on me. I’m not overly concerned he will bite me. That may be naive of me. I’m more curious as to why this is happening. I’m wondering if anyone has had experience with this before. Does anyone know about instances of sulcattas intentionally biting people. I know that if he decided to bite me, it wouldn’t be good and could potentially lead to a trip to urgent care. I have attached a pic of what it looks like.

 

[wellington]

I'd say if you had bright polish on that will do it but I see you don't.
I have a leopard that is very interested in my yard shoes. I have no idea why, but when I took the shoe off to offer it to him, to see if he would actually bite it he did try.
Other than polish, I have no idea.

 

[Yvonne G]

Wear shoes when entering his yard. He's probably getting to the point in his life/age where he doesn't want other "tortoises" in his territory and he's smelling you to make sure you're not another tortoise. It might not make a difference that you're not a tortoise, because eventually he's going to start ramming that foot to chase it out of his yard.

 

[Chelly_Chaloo]

I'd say if you had bright polish on that will do it but I see you don't.
I have a leopard that is very interested in my yard shoes. I have no idea why, but when I took the shoe off to offer it to him, to see if he would actually bite it he did try.
Other than polish, I have no idea.

Thanks for your response!

 

[Chelly_Chaloo]

Wear shoes when entering his yard. He's probably getting to the point in his life/age where he doesn't want other "tortoises" in his territory and he's smelling you to make sure you're not another tortoise. It might not make a difference that you're not a tortoise, because eventually he's going to start ramming that foot to chase it out of his yard.

Thanks for your response! Yes it does seem like it is “his yard” sometimes, and you’re right, the best solution is probably wearing shoes. Your answer makes sense to me. For clarification, this behavior will get more severe, ie ramming? Is it possible that he will learn that my toes are not another tortoise?

 

[Chelly_Chaloo]

Thanks for your response! Yes it does seem like it is “his yard” sometimes, and you’re right, the best solution is probably wearing shoes. Your answer makes sense to me. For clarification, this behavior will get more severe, ie ramming? Is it possible that he will learn that my toes are not another tortoise?

And am I correct in assuming that if he were to ram me then I would incur serious damage?

 

[Yvonne G]

And am I correct in assuming that if he were to ram me then I would incur serious damage?

If he happens to connect with an ankle or shin bone it hurts like hell!!!

He may eventually determine that you are the food god and forget about chasing you away.

 

[Tom]

Hello,
I’ve had my sulcatta for about ten years now. Recently he has been exhibiting unusual and frankly annoying behavior. They are showing a lot of attention to my toes. Almost every time I am in my yard without shoes on, he will come towards me quickly, get way too close for comfort to my toes. He will approach it the way he approaches new food. I’ve let him get real close, making contact and snorting on me. I’m not overly concerned he will bite me. That may be naive of me. I’m more curious as to why this is happening. I’m wondering if anyone has had experience with this before. Does anyone know about instances of sulcattas intentionally biting people. I know that if he decided to bite me, it wouldn’t be good and could potentially lead to a trip to urgent care. I have attached a pic of what it looks like.

I don't think I've ever had a tortoise that wasn't interested in people's little piggies. Shoes is an easy solution, but who wants to wear shoes in summertime? My solution is to just keep my feet out of the way of the tortoise's mouth. Easy peasy.