@Surasanji Also: don't feed turtles by hand, they don't care what they bite into. Feed them with a spoon, bonus: when they have bitten you can lift them up with the spoon.

@cm Yeah, but that is a snapping turtle. It might just break the spoon.

Honestly, they guy is lucky his face appears to be mostly intact after that stupid decision.

@Surasanji Definitely lucky. Ours were read-eared sliders, they have a rather hefty bite, too, although their mouth doesn't open as wide. (Once I was in their pool, bare-footed, and one tried to bite into my big toe. That would have ended very badly had its mouth opened wider...)

@cm Yeah, I had turtles like that as a kid. Mine wasn't too bitey, though. I think she liked being handled. Used to brush her shell with a tooth brush. She really enjoyed it, I think.

I did get bitten a few times, though. At least once was enough to break the skin, as I recall. But, usually my fault. I learned to be wary of the front end of the turtle.

@Surasanji The amphibian turtles we had only fed whle in the water, completely harmless outside. The first one, when it was still alone, liked to climb onto our feet to get warm. It stopped being interested in humans when it got turtle companions...

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.