Thursday, November 09, 2006

Slow Coach’s Personal Chopsticks


Do tortoises bite? Many people believe that when a tortoise bites, it will only let go when the thunder roars. On the contrary, you don't really need the thunder to save you.

Generally, tortoises do not bite unless provoked. Well trained pet tortoises are gentle animals. As long as you do not abuse them, they will not open their mouth and threaten to bite you when you approach them. After all, it is only natural to protect themselves from danger.

Of all the 11 years that Slow Coach has been with us, she had just bitten me once and I have to stress that it was an accident. She was overly excited when I showed her a piece of raw luncheon meat. I hand feed her personally every meal. It was her first introduction to raw meat and she was only 3 years old. I thought she had wanted to taste a small bite of the meat but I guess the seduction of the juicy meat was too great to keep her cool. She took a bite a little too large for me to handle and ended up accidentally bitten my finger but as soon as she realized that, she quickly withdrew herself. No thunder needed. Hehe!

Though it was just a bite, nonetheless my finger bled a little. Tortoises in the wild eat small fish, fruits and leaves. They do not have any teeth to chew like us. Instead, they have blade-like beaks. The cut on my finger looked more like a paper-cut. So, it was not a big deal. Anyway, Slow Coach was sorry for the accident. She was a bit shy to take the second bite. I had to coax her before she lightened up and gobbled up the rest of the luncheon meat.

The next day, Slow Coach has her own set of chopsticks for her meals. I realized she has grown quite a bit and I should be more careful when feeding her in the future.


However, the Alligator Snapping Tortoise is totally another story. It is the ugliest, fiercest and most vicious tortoise in the tortoise kingdom. Imagine it being equivalent to a shark. The Alligator Snapping Tortoises have powerful jaws and can bite off a finger. They will attack and eat just about anything. They are not something that you can play a fool with. Most importantly, they are not suitable as pets. I saw one in the petshop recently and I don't think I would dare to feed it at all. Nope. Not even with the chopsticks.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

that tortoise looks scary! you know of anyone keeping one as a pet?

Unknown said...

Totally scary! Not that I know of.

Anonymous said...

There is this African Spur Thigh Tortoise roaming around in my backyard. It freaked me out when i first saw it, i couldn't beleive my eyes. A small part of my fence broke during a hurricane, and now he can get into our backyard and i dont mind. But he keeps walking up to me and following me. I dont know if he will bite or not. Or if he does, would it hurt?

Molly xx chick said...

i am thinkin of gettin a Marginated tortoise anyone know what they like??
WOW that was an really ugly tortise i wouldnt want him as a pet and what sex is nier girl or boy ??

Anonymous said...

You have tested it and writing form your personal experience or you find some information online?

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