Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Burmese blacks and browns have so imprinted on me when it comes to food, I get attacked everytime I enter their enclosure. They all come trundling up to me when they see me...and then they bite me. Even when I put the food down for them, they still are focused on me. I can distract or redirect the ones in front of me, it's the ones coming up behind me that pose a threat. Ankles nipped, calfs pinched...It was cute when they were tennis-ball sized, but there's nothing cute about a bite from one of behemoths now. I love these guys, greatest tortoises I've ever kept, but their responsiveness be a two-edged sword. Just sayin'.

" Shes a man eater"*hall/oats 1980 something! ITS THE NATURE OF THE BEAST ! I love hearing this! It is what I experence everyday! You discribed it to a T. I go to all the truble to give them a clean eating tray and they walk over it draging dirt and leaves all over the food. Mine to will sneak up from behind and BITE. Mine are adults and sometimes I feel their breath and move at the last nano-second! The leader of the pack here is a big oversized emys around 45_50 LBS. She broke the book record for number of eggs many times with 60 eggs.(I think Das quotes 34 eggs along with others.) Thats as many as a big old phayrei. She comes hall'in but out of the hut or where ever she is and RUNS full blast for me with or without food EVERYTIME. Her name is "Ding Back" (she has a "ding" or chip off a scute on her Carapace) We warn people when they get in with the emys. I dont know about yours but mine will follow me from one end to the other of a huge (I mean HUGE) enclosure for as long as I can keep it up. They are super cool primitive beast from yesteryear. It's what I mean by "A keen awareness of human presense"*vm. I hear other folks report this, "attack of the emys too." Vic Morgan

Like I said, they're the best tortoises I've ever kept (and I have kept and bred a LOT of tortoises). Climbing into their enclosure may be every man for himself, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Its so cool they all act this way in captivity. People all over the USA and Europe that got them from me tell me the same story's and other funny stuff they do. Vic

My two blacks are CB, my two browns are WC. Once they all got over their shyness, I noticed no difference in their behaviours. Do you notice any difference between WCs and CBs in terms of their responsiveness and interactiveness?

All my WC are really long term captives and very well adjusted. The only difference was when they were short term WC say up to 5 yrs or so. They (WC) were a little more stressed when moved around for Winter or a new enclosure. CB of any age could care less if moved, turned over,picked up, used for show or photo shoots. Not much bothers them. So for the most part CB and "established" WC are the same other than some personal quirks like a male that has always been shy. I will say that male conbat in WC is much more ferce than newly maturing CB males, but that may change when the get the huge Gulars of an old male of eather beginning. I notice if I pick up a CB that is eating they hold the food in their mouth and continue to eat no matter what I'm doing to it, such as cleaning it off or shpping it to someone, whatever, it aint lettin go of the food. VM