Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my turtle seems to hate me. whenever im around he takes off and hides. he wont bask when im in the room and he wont move at all untill i leave. i have to hide and wait in order to see him move. i hear people talking about watching there turts beg for food and such and i wonder if he hates me or what? i have only had him about 4 months, he is still a hatchling.

My Res are like that 2. I think u should handle him more and take him on carpet romps. If u think about it its just a defense thing. My painted on the other hand i had for along time and is the nicest turtle. I herd someone along time ago saying how u can get your turtle to be less shy with carpet romps every day. Hope it helps

My RES love me (or the food I bring with me) and I never let them spread their bacteria and germs all over my carpet.
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Turtles aren't like dogs. To them you are just a huge predator. Over time they might become less sensitive to your presence, but some animals I've had forever have not become less shy, others have become brave after a short while. Each is an individual. (and by the way, carpet romps are a mistake for the health of your turtle)

I dissagree carpet romps are a good idea. It gives them more exercise. How would u like being stuck in a glass tank for your whole life. And if your lucky like mine your in a pond. I think if i was a turtle I would love a change of being stuck there and to walk around. My turtle speedy loves to ru Lots of people take their turtles on turtle romps and I belive it is a good idea.

Have you every noticed what wild turtles do. They swim around and bask, and thats about it. They dont go for walks unless things arent working out in their pond or they need to lay eggs. Making the swimming area as large as possible and providing a decent basking area isnt just what a basking turtle needs. Its all they want.
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If your turtle really seems like he likes to run around on the ground, maybe hes trying to get away from you. If hes not getting enough exercise, maybe his pond is too small. Basking animals basically eat and bask. They dont require much exercise.
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you are mistaken.

What does a turtle do when threatened? It jumps into the nearest body of water and swims to safety. Turtles will rarely wander far from water unless nesting or having seen their habitat become unsuitable. Stressing them out by stranding them away from water is bad. Reptiles suffer health effects from stress much worse than mammals. They can die from it. So putting a turtle in a place where it will instinctually feel unsafe, then watching it wander desperately seeking a suitable safe location is not exercise, it's cruelty.

This is not to mention the fact that houses are drafty, especially ones heated and cooled by forced air. Summertime in a house generally means air conditioning is one, which means cold dry air is circulated around the house, especially lower to the ground. Cold dry air contributes towards respiratory infections.

Dust and other dirt are also available on the floor, as are unnatural human pathogens.

Carpet fibers can also cut the softer flesh of small animals, especially when wedged between toes or beside toenails.

Forgotten animals or ones that have moved quietly can be stepped on, have a chair shifted on them, or any number of accidents.

I share your frustration! I have two hatchlings. One I got about 8 months ago and one about 3. My advice is one of two things
1) be patient
2) be prepared to deal with a less friendly turtle.

It look my turtle almost 6 months of good care for it to become "friendly". Although to be honest, I am not sure if he is friendly or simply realizes that I am going to feed him, not eat him. We can't expect turtles to be as friendly as dogs and they definitely do have their own personalities. Now Slider (the friendly one), swims towards me and follows my finger around. He also will calmly sit there basking when I walk by. The other(Junior) is still a big chicken and will bolt everytime anything moves near him. Junior may get better with time or maybe he is just less friendly.

People may get mad at my analogy but I think of them as more interesting fish (i.e. living in their quasi-natural habitat and me watching them do their own thing). As opposed to a dog whether you expect bonding and playing around.

if the turt starts acting "friendly", its great fun and so cute. However, you can still have a good time raising your turts even though they don't turn out to be the "eats from my hand and plays with me" type. But give it a bit more time.

Your analogy is fine. What you are saying is great. Enjoy the animal at the level at which it is content.

Re: The other post someone put here about letting your turtle free range on the carpet:

Running on a carpet is NOT a good thing for an aquatic turtle and it can come into contact with all sorts of pathogens on the carpet AND leave little germy presents behind.

You, on the other hand, have a very good outlook on appreciating a turtle.

Steve

Does your turtle have a favorite food?

i have heard a lot of people saying that holding food patiently right over the water where the turtle can see .. of course in a smaller dish like a clean cool whip container or something small like it .. because they are under water they might not notice that you are the one feeding them .. so having the food between two fingers dangling it wiggling it slightly in the water and then dangling it there .. the turtle will see you with its food .. and learn you mean food ..

i had to do this to introduce new foods ... like guppies and earth worms .. soon meal worms .. i had to do this so she could come up and smell the food and take a taste then i left the food in the small container with her till her water would get a little to cool .. she wasnt to skitish .. now she is again because i havent been sitting with her while she eats ..

IF you are worried about excercise and its warm outside .. you could get a kiddie pool and some screen or something to protect it .. and put her out side in a spot that not only gets some sun but some shade .. you might have to check what the temp of the water and make sure its warm enough for the little turtle .. also some large rocks or other tid bits for basking .. then they have a large spot to play .. then there isnt the worry of carpet .. and you can sit and watch them or hold them in your hand and then let them swimm out of it ..

i usually scoop my little girl out of the water and then dip my hand into the water and then release her .. because she has a tendancy to do some diving as soon as she sees water .. usually from 2-3 inches away .. its like having evil caneval in turtle form .. Geeze *G*

OK to clarify some things. The only time I handle my turtles is to 1 take PICS of them or to "walk" them outside when the pond is being cleaned. I do not have my turtles inside so what I am saying I never take them on carpet romps. I just hear people saying it before that it was a good idea for a turtle to get out. My Ced which is a tort I take outside every day on the other hand to get exercise. He also snacks on weeds which is good for him and he loves it. So if its not bad for a tort how can it be bad for a turtle? And yes i know that turtles live in water. BIG DEAL. BTW I have seen turtles in the wild -- painteds walking on land that were male for some distance (even though their environment was good). GRRRR

With regard to male aquatics moving on land. Perhaps you saw one relocating itself to another body of water. It was certainly not out for a casual stroll. Regarding tortoises -- That's great that you put him out to graze and wander. That's what is natural for a tortoise but (by and large) Aquatics stay in the water and bask only moving away from the body of water to relocate or lay eggs. Extreme incidents only will drive them from water not the pleasure of a stroll.

Thanks for clarifying the "carpet romp" thing though. Glad you don't let him hit the rugs!

BTW --

Is that your little guy? He's a great looking turtle.

Yep thats Speedy and I belive I have had him for about 12yrs.

He's nice. I have 4 in my pond. They were all adopted (as are all my turtles and tortoises) from a turtle rescue. I really like the painteds but the males get a little rough when they are competing for the females AND even if the females refuse to mate. My smallest (have not named them yet)
Is the most aggressive. He grabs the females by the neck and holds on for dear life.

They also live with 2 yellow bellies 2 redbelly cooters and 5 sliders (my pond is 1600 gallons). They don't harass the other species only their own.

Steve

Wow thats a big pond do u have a pic of it?

I'll do somewhere. I'll have to check my files on my home computer and I'll attach them.

It took a bit of planning. It is 8'x12' by 30 inches deep and has a 2'x4' island in the middle. I built a filter into the island that spill out to a water fall. It is real neat to watch all the turtles climb out onto the island and stack on top of each other to sun themselves.

All this started with two little sliders that I got out of Chinatown cuz I felt sorry for them.

Now I have the bunch I listed and 2 redfoot tortoises and one yellow foot tortoise.

I really enjoy it though. Once you get the husbandry aspect out of the way I find turtles are really not that hard. I have had (and still have) lots of birds and believe me turtles and torts are MUCH easier. Eventhough the birds are great to have too!

Steve

Thats such a cool idea I would love to see pics of it. How did u do it with a liner? or was it a natural pond?

Love to see some pics!
~Marisa

Yea I would also love to see some pics. maybe make a new topic when you have them ready to show

Oh and its funny because I also got my 2 RES from china town (NY).. they were something like 5 dollars each back then... who would have known it would eventually costs 1000's of dollars!!!

I did it with a liner. Dug all the way around and left the earth island in the middle. Then I laid the liner into the hole and over the earth island and build up the island with Pennsylvania Wall stone. (the whole mess took 3 pallettes of stone and cost me a little over a dollar a gallon -- not cheap but the end result made it all worth it --(proof positive that there is no such thing as a free pet!!)

Steve

Thats a realy cool idea love to see some pics when u get a chance. I wish I had a pond that big. I could have even more turtles if i did.

Get a distinctive can of turtle food, or put whatever he likes to eat in a distinctive can (mine has a yellow lid). Every time you feed the turtle, feed at the same time, in the same way, in the same spot. The turtle will eventually get very very excited when he sees that can of food and come swimming up to get his share. Eventually he'll get so used to it that he might pluck it out of your fingers. You'll both know that this is just food related, but it's a fun way to interact. It took me a while, but both of my pellet eating turtles do this. Well, the one eats out of my fingers, and the other tries to eat my fingers, but it's still fun.