In general box turtles are very docile and peaceful creatures, so you wouldn’t expect to see one of them trying to bite you. But like every animal, box turtles must have some way to defend against predators, and biting seems to be a very efficient way for most animals to defend themselves.
Box Turtles do bite as a way to defend themselves. But Box turtles are usually very peaceful and docile. But even so Box turtles might bite you by mistake.
Now that we know that a box turtle will bite, let’s take a closer look at the situations when it will happen, how powerful the bite is (my box turtle mistakenly bit me a few times so unfortunately, I know how it feels), and what to do and what not to do if you are bitten.
How It Feels to Be Bitten by a Box Turtle
Compared to other turtles, the bite of a box turtle is not that bad. I own a few turtles and one of them is a box turtle, and at some point, I’ve gotten bitten by him, so I am telling you this from first-hand experience.
In general box, turtle bites are not that bad, but the amount of pain you will feel depends on the area that was bitten. The most common places you can get bitten by a turtle are your fingers and your toes. The fingers can get accidentally bitten when you feed them with your hand. And if you keep your turtles in an outdoor enclosure and you walk through it with slippers on you can expect them to bite you thinking that your toes are food.
When your fingers get bitten by a box turtle you won’t feel too much pain or any kind of discomfort, the bite of a box turtle isn’t that powerful. You will feel a little pain but nothing too bad. You can probably expect to have your skin turn red for a few minutes, but that is usually all.
If a box turtle bites your toe then you will feel about the same amount of pain that you would feel if you were to hit your toe in the table’s foot, so it hurts a lot, but the pain goes away quite as fast. It can sometimes leave a few bruises but they should probably go in a few hours, or in a couple of days in the worst-case scenario.
For this article I also let my box turtle bite my forearm, the pain was a little worse than the rest of them, but nothing that bad. It left me with a few signs, but they went away shortly after.
My box turtle was a full-grown adult when he bit me, so a bite shouldn’t normally be more powerful than the one I experienced. If a smaller box turtle bites you you should experience even less discomfort.
Those are the most common situations and places a box turtle can bite you. As I said they are not very aggressive and when they bite you it’s usually because they thought one of your fingers or toes was food, or because you annoy them very much, and those bites are very short, they will let go as soon as possible, they won’t try to maintain the bite, but there is one other very unlikely and unpleasant situation that can happen, where the bite is more dangerous.
It happens very rarely but if a turtle feels that it’s in grave danger, and it manages to bite you, it won’t let go. And it’s extremely hard to get rid of a turtle that doesn’t want to let go. Those kinds of situations usually end up with a little more than a bruise. Nothing that won’t pass in a couple of weeks, but if you see any blood after the bite you have to go to the doctor to prevent any infections.
Now that you know what can happen if you are bitten, let’s see what you have to do if you get bitten by a box turtle.
What to Do if You Are Bitten
In the case of a small, harmless bite, there isn’t much that you have to do. Just make sure that you wash your hands before you do anything else. And try to leave the turtle alone for a while, as I said they usually bite because they are stressed, in danger, or they thought they were eating food, no matter why they bite you they will feel a little agitated for a while, so it’s better to leave them alone.
If you see any blood you should drop everything that you were doing and go disinfect the wound, even if the wound is small it can still get infected, and that can be very dangerous. I would also recommend going to the doctor after you have disinfected it. A doctor will be able to tell you if any further treatment for the wound is needed.
If the turtle bites you and doesn’t want to let go, you have to wait until it releases the bite. Doing anything else will only worsen the situation. It might seem counterintuitive but it’s the best way to act in this situation.
What Not to Do if You Are Bitten
If the turtle bites you and doesn’t want to let go, you don’t want to pull or hit the turtle. If you hit the turtle it will only apply more pressure to the bite and will stay there for longer. If you hit the turtle until it loses its life things will only get worse for you, because at that point the jaws are going to apply even more pressure, and the turtle won’t be able to release it. And in this process, your wounds are only going to get worse. So as I said, even if it seems counterintuitive, the best thing to do is to peacefully wait until the turtle releases the bite.
After a turtle bites you you have to be very careful what you do with your hands, do not put them near your mouth, or near food. Turtles can carry a lot of germs and sometimes even bacterias, so spreading them is not a good idea. Instead, go and wash your hands as soon as possible.
If a turtle bites you because it’s stressed, don’t stress it anymore. Just leave the area and leave it alone. If the turtle that bit you is your turtle, you should let it rest peacefully for some time and come again later, if you had any business with the turtle. A couple of hours should be enough time for the turtle to calm down.
It’s good to know what to do and what not to do if you get bitten, but even better is to know how to avoid it, so let’s talk about it as well.
How to Avoid Getting Bitten
The best way to protect your fingers is to keep them away, so don’t feed your box turtle with your hand, you can just place the food on the ground. Turtles don’t care how they get their food as long as they get it.
If you want to protect your toes then you should hide them, so don’t wear slippers or any kind of footwear that will keep them visible.
If you own a box turtle and you don’t want to get bitten then you should make sure that it’s well fed. If a turtle is hungry it will try to eat anything that it’s remotely close to food.
Don’t stress box turtles, even if they are peaceful by their nature, they will still attack you if they are stressed out and they feel in danger.
If a wild box turtle seems very agitated you should try to keep your distance, it can always bite you if you get too close.
And always try to handle them with care, If you properly handle a turtle there is no chance that you will get bitten, so avoid placing your hand anywhere close to its mouth.
Note: This advice is not necessarily exclusive to box turtle bites, it can also be applied to most turtle species. The only difference is that some other species might bite a little harder than the box turtle.
Related Questions
Are box turtles dangerous? No, box turtles are very docile and peaceful so they aren’t dangerous at all. They don’t present any danger to humans.
Are box turtles good pets? Yes, but they are not suitable for a beginner. If you want to have a pet turtle I would recommend you to start with another species. Even if it’s a little difficult to take care of them, they are still good pets.
Can a box turtle recognize its owner? Yes, most turtle species are able to recognize their owner to a certain extent.
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