Turtle Taming?

[PRW1988]

So I've had 3 Yellow bellied turtles for about 1 year and a half now, they're all pretty good sizes, 1 F, 2 M I believe. The female's about 5", and both males look around 4" (sizes are by eye, I measured on paper earlier, just waiting for the papers to dry lol). ANYWAYS...... I was wondering about taming them, they're not overly agressive, unless you pick them up, except one of the males.

I'm just curious to know if there's anything I can do to get the other male and female to be more like the only semi-agressive male. I have other reptiles such as the water dragon and I know how to tame them, so should I employee the same tactics and just handle them for a few minutes everyday till they don't snap at anything more than 5" from there face?

 

[Mikaila31]

So I've had 3 Yellow bellied turtles for about 1 year and a half now, they're all pretty good sizes, 1 F, 2 M I believe. The female's about 5", and both males look around 4" (sizes are by eye, I measured on paper earlier, just waiting for the papers to dry lol). ANYWAYS...... I was wondering about taming them, they're not overly agressive, unless you pick them up, except one of the males.

I'm just curious to know if there's anything I can do to get the other male and female to be more like the only semi-agressive male. I have other reptiles such as the water dragon and I know how to tame them, so should I employee the same tactics and just handle them for a few minutes everyday till they don't snap at anything more than 5" from there face?

Try to hand feed tasty morsels, but not via aggression. Basically try to lure them to you, before picking them up.

 

[fishnovice]

Yellowbellies are not a naturally very aggressive species. I have several rescued turtles including yellowbellies and have never been bitten even when I put my hand in small pond in the dark late at night to catch them. Mine are used to being handled daily as I feed them in a separate tank to keep main tank clean. I also take them out in the garden in summer and bring them in at night in case of attack by foxes.
Dangling scraps of food before handling them as Mikaila suggested is a good idea. Mine like thin strips of ham as a treat!
Yellowbellies have short necks and can't bite you if you hold them properly. I put my fingers under their shell between their front and back legs with my thumb on top of shell to get a secure grip