Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, The other day out in the turtle pen I noticed my alpha male three-toed, Mike Tyson, was flipped over backward on his shell and unable to right himself as his right hind leg was clamped tight in a female's shell at a sharp angle to him. As it looked like he could break his leg trying to get free, I started working with the female's shell trying to get her to open up just enough to get the leg out, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my right hand. The male had latched onto the heel of my hand like a spring clamp and wasn't showing any signs of letting go! I couldn't pull free without risking a bad bite, so I used my left forefinger and tumb to apply slight pressure on either side of his jaw hinges, and that worked to get him to open his beak enough for me to get my hand free. I put some ice on the nip and cleaned it (although he didn't break the skin), then returned outdoors to get him free of that female while keeping a wide berth of either turtle's head. The nip gave me a v-shaped red mark for a couple of days. It's the first time a box turtle has ever bitten me. This particular turtle, Mike Tyson, is named that because he is overly aggressive and beats up the other male turtles in the pen. He even broke one turtle's jaw before I could rescue it!

np