# TORTOISE STRESS. ARE THEY REALLY THAT FRAGILE



## wellington (May 18, 2016)

I read comments on various threads all the time about this or that may be stressing your tortoise. 
What are your thoughts about it! Are they really that fragile? 
I personally think not. I'm not fragile with my torts. I do what I need to do for them and I don't tip toe around them. When I pick them up, i just grab them, I don't support their legs. Sometimes I carry them side ways. When/if they flip over, I just flip them back. When I put them down, I just put them down. If I want to carry more then one at a time, I put two in a bag, used to do three in a bag. Sometimes I can't reach them to pick them up, so I grab under their shell and drag them over to me. I have never seen a single sign of stress. They don't stay tucked into their shells. They don't stop eating. They don't stay hidden in their hides. They act as normal as I know their normal to be. Like a tortoise. Oh, and I have not had one sick or die.
If they could be so easily stressed. Would they be able to survive as long as they have and do!
What's your opionion?


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## Rue (May 18, 2016)

That's a very good question, and I have been wondering the same thing.

I get the impression, from what I've read, that we are 'supposed' to tip-toe around them. However, mine, at least, doesn't give me the impression I need to tip-toe around her.

I'm very interested to see what everyone else has to say.


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## G-stars (May 18, 2016)

I believe the stress most tortoises are affected by is mental rather than physical. 

The chronic stress of being bullied by another tortoise, without the chance to escape is one example. It weakens their immune system.


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## wellington (May 18, 2016)

G-stars said:


> I believe the stress most tortoises are affected by is mental rather than physical.
> 
> The chronic stress of being bullied by another tortoise, without the chance to escape is one example. It weakens their immune system.


Yes, I agree with tortoise/tortoise stress. That's not what I am asking about. Its the human/tortoise stress.


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## wellington (May 18, 2016)

wellington said:


> I read comments on various threads all the time about this or that may be stressing your tortoise.
> What are your thoughts about it! Are they really that fragile?
> I personally think not. I'm not fragile with my torts. I do what I need to do for them and I don't tip toe around them. When I pick them up, i just grab them, I don't support their legs. Sometimes I carry them side ways. When/if they flip over, I just flip them back. When I put them down, I just put them down. If I want to carry more then one at a time, I put two in a bag, used to do three in a bag. Sometimes I can't reach them to pick them up, so I grab under their shell and drag them over to me. I have never seen a single sign of stress. They don't stay tucked into their shells. They don't stop eating. They don't stay hidden in their hides. They act as normal as I know their normal to be. Like a tortoise. Oh, and I have not had one sick or die.
> If they could be so easily stressed. Would they be able to survive as long as they have and do!
> What's your opionion?



Let me say, I am not talking about tortoise/tortoise stress. That I agree with. I as agree you can see it. Actually all the things I said my torts don't do cause of my handling, is what a tortoise under stress from another tort would do.
Again, I am not talking about tortoise on tortoise stress!


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## G-stars (May 18, 2016)

wellington said:


> Yes, I agree with tortoise/tortoise stress. That's not what I am asking about. Its the human/tortoise stress.



I have never noticed any of my tortoises be stressed by human contact or presence. Some are a little more shy/cautious especially at a younger age. But that's normal. It's instinct kicks in to be fearful of large mammals.


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## Gillian M (May 18, 2016)

I never noticed any stress on OLI until he began to flip on his back.


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## Rue (May 18, 2016)

What about the suggested stress of moving them around? 

We move them from their indoor enclosure => to their outdoor enclosure => to their bath => to other places, and the consensus seems to be that that is fine.

But if we move them anywhere else - all of the sudden it's a huge stressor and we shouldn't do it.

If they are used to being moved around to different places (and yes, most of those different places might be quite familiar to them in their own right i.e. indoor versus outdoor enclosure) - and they are habituated to being moved by their caretakers - why is one such move considered to be acceptable and the next one not?

...and again, I'm not talking about moving them to an unfamiliar location on a regular basis for no reason.

Another example is shipping. Apparently it's okay to submit them to the stress of shipping by mail - but not okay to stress them by taking them to a new home in the car.

I am not following the logic.


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## JoesMum (May 18, 2016)

Shipping by mail does stress a tortoise. We have many newly shipped arrivals on here that take a long time to come round.

I can only go by personal experience of car journeys and say that Joe loathes them. He poops prolifically, constantly tries to escape and ends up in a right state afterwards. Fortunately we haven't had to do them with him often. If we do, I make sure he's cold so it causes him as little stress as possible.


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## WithLisa (May 18, 2016)

In my opinion they are quite fragile, I had torts that stopped to eat and died because of stress. I guess a healthy tortoise can easily tolerate some raw handling every now and then, but for example a change of enclosure can affect them a lot. 

My torts do show signs of stress when I pick them up, they struggle and urinate. They are still small and I don't want them to dehydrate, so I handle them as little as possible.


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## wellington (May 18, 2016)

WithLisa said:


> In my opinion they are quite fragile, I had torts that stopped to eat and died because of stress. I guess a healthy tortoise can easily tolerate some raw handling every now and then, but for example a change of enclosure can affect them a lot.
> 
> My torts do show signs of stress when I pick them up, they struggle and urinate. They are still small and I don't want them to dehydrate, so I handle them as little as possible.



How do you know they stopped eating and died because of stress? I doubt it was stress. Most likely already ill. An ill tortoise will not be able to handle the same things as one that is in good health. They can't be too fragile, they have survived for decades.


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## Tony the tank (May 18, 2016)

I don't think they are stressed as much as we think...I don't coddle any of my big boys...some I can no longer pickup.. So when I give them a quick check.. I flip them over to see there underside...some times for 2-3 minutes to give them a good scrub if they need it...I then just flip them back over and give them a apple which they woof right down...They all have heated hides in the winter month..But sometimes I come out at sunrise to find one of my Sulcatas sleeping under a bush..(45* outside) No ill effect....My Russians are gathered up and all placed in a Rubbermaid sweater box were they climb all over each other.... I weigh them.. Mark them and place them back in the pen were they go right back to grazing ...In 10yrs of keeping tortoises I have never lost one.... But to be completely truthful I always leave any new animal alone for a month or two...to let them come into there own... Before I start handling them...


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## wellington (May 18, 2016)

The different levels of "stress" a tort can handle may also have something to do with specie differences and/or the environment it is being kept in. I've had a few torts shipped and when their box was opened, there were no signs of stress. They were ready to come out and join the world. Maybe it has to do with the stress level of the human? Hmmm, if everything stresses you out, then you assume everything is stressing your tort out too.


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## WithLisa (May 18, 2016)

wellington said:


> How do you know they stopped eating and died because of stress? I doubt it was stress. Most likely already ill. An ill tortoise will not be able to handle the same things as one that is in good health. They can't be too fragile, they have survived for decades.


Who knows, but they were doing fine before in their outside enclosure and once they were moved into a small inside enclosure they stopped eating, climbing the walls and trying to escape almost 24/7. Blood test, faecal samples, x-ray,... were all negative.


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## juli11 (May 18, 2016)

Yes I agree. CB are normally not really difficult with stress especially testudo for example. But there are also some species which produce really shy CB animals which are delicate for stress.. 
WC animals are all the time delicate for stress especially in the first month after the import. The problem here is that if they have stress their tummy doesn't really work because kinds of worm and bacteriums can breed faster and start to destroy the gastroenteritis system. That's the reason why many of the imports need some time before they start eating. Hopefully everybody understand what I mean


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## juli11 (May 18, 2016)

I also think that a outdoor enclosure is also very helpful for the animals to become not so stressful. 
An example: 
I keep since 3 years kinixys spekii and kinixys lobatsiana. Both of them are WC animals. In the summer i keep only the spekii in a outdoor enclosure the lobatsiana live the whole time inside. What i see is that the spekii in the outdoor enclosure lost their whole shyness, I can feed them from my hand and they start laying eggs. 
The opposite by the lobatsiana. 
These points which I named by spekii are a 100% confirmation that outdoor enclosure are helpful.


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## ALDABRAMAN (May 18, 2016)

wellington said:


> Istressing your tortoise // What's your opinion?



~ We truly believe that tortoises easily stress and make every reasonable effort to avoid and at least minimize any unnecessary stress possible.


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## wellington (May 18, 2016)

ALDABRAMAN said:


> ~ We truly believe that tortoises easily stress and make every reasonable effort to avoid and at least minimize any unnecessary stress possible.


Do you feel this about your adults more then your babies or the other way around or both just as easily stressed as the other? Of course we only see pictures, but a lot that we have seen being done, no one seems stressed


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## leigti (May 18, 2016)

I think a lot of it depends on the species and how close we can get there man-made environment to what they Live in in nature. And I think a healthy tortoise is not fragile. I have done just about all the things you mentioned  sometimes gentle just doesn't cut it, tonight I had to bring the tortoises in because it's going to get enough low 40s. If anybody has tried to drag out a Russian or pancake tortoise when they have dug in for the night then you know what I am talking about.
But I think a sick tortoise is fragile and can be more stressed by the actions of the humans. And it can be very difficult to turn them around. I have lost one and it was heartbreaking. And I think young members of any species are more fragile.


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## JoesMum (May 18, 2016)

On this forum, we hear about so many torts of all species that stop eating and/or hide away when all that's happened is that they have moved to a new enclosure which may or may not be with a new owner. 

They do get used to a new home, some take longer than others, and I am sure they get used to the particular way their human handles them. 

Where they have both indoor and outdoor enclosures, for example, they will be used to being moved between the two. They get used to being fished out for a soak as well. 

All animals are capable of being stressed. Torts are no exception. Some individuals are more easily stressed than others - nothing new there. 

Surely though, this is simply about doing what you can to ensure that any animal (or human for that matter) in our care isn't unnecessarily stressed by our actions?

It's not a whim. It's common sense.


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## Big Charlie (May 19, 2016)

When I first got Charlie, I didn't think about how he would react to anything I did, as long as his needs were met. I guess I knew he didn't like being soaked but since it was good for him, I didn't think about his stress level. When I put him in the car and took him into my daughter's school for show and tell, I was surprised that he couldn't stop pooping. That's when I realized how stressful it was for him. In my opinion, his increased stress wasn't worth entertaining some kindergartners. He has had other times of stress in his life since then; nothing life threatening but I can tell when things bother him. Such as when we filled in his burrows more than once and blocked his access to them. I don't see any reason to add any stress to his life. I wouldn't purposely hold him upside down if it wasn't necessary, for example.


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## wellington (May 19, 2016)

Big Charlie said:


> When I first got Charlie, I didn't think about how he would react to anything I did, as long as his needs were met. I guess I knew he didn't like being soaked but since it was good for him, I didn't think about his stress level. When I put him in the car and took him into my daughter's school for show and tell, I was surprised that he couldn't stop pooping. That's when I realized how stressful it was for him. In my opinion, his increased stress wasn't worth entertaining some kindergartners. He has had other times of stress in his life since then; nothing life threatening but I can tell when things bother him. Such as when we filled in his burrows more than once and blocked his access to them. I don't see any reason to add any stress to his life. I wouldn't purposely hold him upside down if it wasn't necessary, for example.


I agree, I wouldn't cause stress on purpose and not recommending this to be done. I also agree that they can be stressed, like anything else. I also agree, that if you know a particular thing stresses your tortoise, don't do it, unless it is something that needs to be done for their well being. Also agree that a sick tortoise is more susceptible to stress and also a tortoise that is not properly being housed. I think every tortoise is different in its stress level and each species may have different stress levels from other species. I just don't agree that every time someone does something a little out of the norm is a stressful thing for them. Some torts may not like it as much as another, but I don't think that always means they are stressed.


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## DPtortiose (May 19, 2016)

'Stress' is a rather broad term and most anecdotal reference seem to confuse the two general definition. I'm not very intimately familiar with the chemical and physical reactions that reptiles experience with stress, but I have a general idea how stress works in a mammalian body. So I think it might be useful to the discussion to define a clear difference between two very different types of stress: long term and short term. This distinction might seem a bit simple and rather vague, but these processes follow very distinct neural pathways and have a very different effect on the body. Again, not sure if reptiles experience these exact hormones or reactions, but it might give a better definition of stress.

*Short term: epinephrine and norepinephrine* (also known as adrenaline an noradrenaline)

This is what you feel when you go bungee jumping, base diving or preform other dangerous activities. This 'adrenaline rush' is caused in the brain (more specific the hypothalamus), when it processes an dangerous or stressful situation. It sends a signal to your adrenal glands (they are attached to your kidneys) and they begin the excrete epinephrine and norepinephrine.

_This has several effects:_

- Your body releases more glucose (the 'fuel' your body runs on) in the blood stream. This glucose is 'made' from glycogen, a substance stored in your liver as a long term energy supply.
- Increased blood pressure.
- Increased breathing
- Increased metabolic rate
- Your blood flow is redirected from non-essential systems (like the digested track) to your muscles, lungs, brains etc.

As you might guess this all happens really fast.

Examples of when this might happen:
- Sky diving
- You're under attack
- Pretty much most situations where you actively sense (life threating) danger

*Long term: mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids*

These work quite a bit differently. Unlike short term stress hormones, these aren't activated by nerve signals from your brain. These hormones are released in reaction to other hormones (ACTH) and work radically different from epinephrine and norepinephrine.

_The effects of glucocorticoids:_

- Your body releases more glucose in the blood stream. This glucose is 'made' from proteins and fat in your body.
- It suppresses the immune system

_The effects of mineralocorticoids:_

- Kidneys take up more water and sodium from urine. (Not completely accurate but that's another story)
- Blood volume and pressure are increased.

These processes happen very slowly over the course of months, weeks or days.

Examples of when this might happen:
- Social pressure
- Environmental stress
- Anything that puts intense mental pressure on you for increased periods of time.

So while picking a tortoise up might cause some short term stress, it's rather harmless. Some people argue that this kind of stress every once in a while is healthy. Long term stress however, is not harmless. It suppresses the immune system and puts strain on the circulatory system. Of course this is only valid if we assume tortoise have similar system in place.

On a side note, viewing or thinking about nature has an remarkable calming effect on most people. Perhaps this is true of tortoises as well? I would be curious to see if outdoor animals in a well planted enclosure are more stress resistant then ones in tortoise tables.


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## MPRC (May 19, 2016)

I man handle 4 of my 5. Squirt is touchy though, if I approach too quickly or don't hold her level she shells up. The others are very curious and look around and seem to enjoy some interaction. They are all CB Redfoots


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## vikki01 (May 19, 2016)

Could it also be linked to a similar thing as "early socialization" in dogs. For example if a tortoise is regularly handled, bathed and moved around from a very young age it will be less bothered by it as it is what it has always been used to. Whereas an older tortoise who has received very little contact will presumably find the same situations more stressful. Could positive conditioning also be relevant i.e if the tortoise receives a "reward" (generally food!!!) in association with something it may perceive as stressful will it become more able to cope and start to actually not be be stressed???


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## Rue (May 19, 2016)

That's what I think too, but the feedback I've received suggests many people think otherwise.


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## Maggie Cummings (May 19, 2016)

I start to socialize my tortoises from the time they are babies. I don't believe they are stressed after being messed with for a few weeks


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## Maggie Cummings (May 19, 2016)

No, I'm not a newbie, somebody fix me......well, you know what i mean


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## Maggie Cummings (May 19, 2016)

Maggie3fan3 said:


> No, I'm not a newbie, somebody fix me......well, you know what i mean


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## Jodie (May 19, 2016)

This is interesting. I try to not stress my tortoises, but certainly do what needs to be done. Among my leopards, I notice drastic differences in their stress. My largest female is very high stress. Moving her from outside to inside causes several days of hiding and not eating every time. My male throws fits when things change. He stomps around and destroys anything he can. My other female doesn't care at all. Nothing phases her. She is the least shy, and by far the most outgoing. 
I would think it is in the raising of them, but I have a trio of 2 year old leopards that I have raised since hatchlings. They also have different levels of stress from the same circumstances.


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## wellington (May 20, 2016)

Maggie3fan3 said:


> No, I'm not a newbie, somebody fix me......well, you know what i mean


LOL, sorry Maggie, there is just no fixing you 
Maybe @Yvonne G can do something


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## Loohan (May 20, 2016)

I am always very considerate when i handle my little boxie. Never really thought of it in terms of stress, exactly, just respect and friendship.
I don't just yank him out of his box, especially if he's snoozing. I wipe the coir off his shell gently while sweet-talking him briefly, and gently pick him up and put him in my palm.

I figure, he already knows i'm hundreds of times his size and he is completely at my mercy. I try not to rub it in. I respect and love him, and don't want to act domineering unnecessarily. I try to see things from his perspective, which is that he is tiny, vulnerable, dependent, and has very little control over his life.


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## SamuelM (May 22, 2016)

Scaring a tortoise may cause it to urinate. This is not a good thing, because it could cause dehydration. Water is precious to a tortoise, especially in a dry environment. They can recycle water, if needed. I believe A turtles weight is 40 percent water weight. I don't believe that includes fluids in the blood and cells


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## wellington (May 22, 2016)

SamuelM said:


> Scaring a tortoise may cause it to urinate. This is not a good thing, because it could cause dehydration. Water is precious to a tortoise, especially in a dry environment. They can recycle water, if needed. I believe A turtles weight is 40 percent water weight. I don't believe that includes fluids in the blood and cells


What do you mean by they can recycle water? I would think if they could "recycle water" then urinating cuz it got scared wouldn't be such a big deal?


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## WithLisa (May 22, 2016)

wellington said:


> What do you mean by they can recycle water? I would think if they could "recycle water" then urinating cuz it got scared wouldn't be such a big deal?


The bladder works like a reservoir for them, they can withdraw water from the urine if needed. So causing them to empty their bladder can be dangerous, especially for small tortoises because they can dehydrate very fast.


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## Calatrava (Jul 8, 2016)

Mine leopard and redfoot are all captive bred and raised by human from very early age. I feel they are more relaxed when I handle them and could eat immediately after I let them go. In contrast, the south east Asia tortoise is very wary, I suspected it was caught from wild. It alreay gets improvement now as it does not shell up when i grab it and can roam close to where i stand. This would not be possible for the first a few months on its arrival.

My redfoot is within one year old, it never retracts to its shell when a human approaches and checks it upclose. So I guess it may be something to do with the age it gets socialize. 

But if you really don't want do disturb your tort, I recommend you to install a webcam. I had one for my leopard, it has night vision and can detect and record movements and send alert to me immediately after. I can watch them on my mobile phone when I was away. In fact, I also setup a switch with wifi along with hygrothermograph and a laptop fan, all can be controlled remotely through one app. This allows me to watch my leopard at any time and control the temp manually.

Here is the snapshot from my mobile:


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## Gillian M (Jul 8, 2016)

Calatrava said:


> Mine leopard and redfoot are all captive bred and raised by human from very early age. I feel they are more relaxed when I handle them and could eat immediately after I let them go. In contrast, the south east Asia tortoise is very wary, I suspected it was caught from wild. It alreay gets improvement now as it does not shell up when i grab it and can roam close to where i stand. This would not be possible for the first a few months on its arrival.
> 
> My redfoot is within one year old, it never retracts to its shell when a human approaches and checks it upclose. So I guess it may be something to do with the age it gets socialize.
> 
> ...


Love that! It looks unique, something different.


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## BrianWI (Jul 8, 2016)

My sulcata stresses me with her antics. She, however, takes everything in stride.


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## Big Charlie (Jul 8, 2016)

BrianWI said:


> My sulcata stresses me with her antics. She, however, takes everything in stride.


I stress a lot more about Charlie now than before I found this forum. I didn't know so many things could go wrong!


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## theguy67 (Jul 8, 2016)

The only time I saw my tortoise "stressed" was when I introduced a male to my 2 females. The larger female chased him around the enclosure, trying to bite him. I just let them work it out, and now they don't bother each other. 

I'd say its easy to stress a tortoise if you have them in improper conditions, otherwise they are pretty hardy animals. I feel like I could leave mine for months, and they wouldn't know any different.


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## mproko (Aug 6, 2016)

One thing I felt that wasn't brought up here was exposure to young children not taught how to handle/respect them.

The other thing I've felt is consistency. If you do the same stuff every time with the animal it may get used to it. I have 2 sub year old hermanns and they aren't phased by anything I do. I can hold them on their sides to toothbrush the poop off underneath without problem. I'm relatively new to tortoises but even with my aquatics I can tell if I haven't been handling them regularly. In the summer I frequently take my red ear painted and yellow belly out in the grass (almost daily) to get some real sunlight. In the winter they are much more annoyed when I handle them as it is moreso only to clean the enclosure.


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## Big Charlie (Aug 6, 2016)

mproko said:


> One thing I felt that wasn't brought up here was exposure to young children not taught how to handle/respect them.
> 
> The other thing I've felt is consistency. If you do the same stuff every time with the animal it may get used to it. I have 2 sub year old hermanns and they aren't phased by anything I do. I can hold them on their sides to toothbrush the poop off underneath without problem. I'm relatively new to tortoises but even with my aquatics I can tell if I haven't been handling them regularly. In the summer I frequently take my red ear painted and yellow belly out in the grass (almost daily) to get some real sunlight. In the winter they are much more annoyed when I handle them as it is moreso only to clean the enclosure.


I've seen that too. Charlie is much shyer when he first starts walking around in the spring, after not being used to me since he sleeps most of the time during the winter. Now that we are in the middle of summer and he sees me everyday, he eagerly approaches me to get his hibiscus branches.


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## otisthetortoise (Sep 18, 2016)

I agree, for the most part. I don't think tortoises are fragile animals. They are as old as the dinosaurs! They are not built to be scared and vulnerable.
That being said, I don't think constant rough handling is the best thing, but even so that's probably just because I'm paranoid I'll hurt my little baby. You know mummas. 
I don't think tortoises really get 'stressed' from human contact. I think they tolerate it just fine.
Olivia


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## Raymo2477 (Sep 30, 2016)

I am not a coddler with my torts. They're pretty tough.

I would say that they do stress with moves to new homes and recommend leaving torts alone for a few weeks while they settle in. 

I have had babies die, but that was most likely due their initial husbandry. I bought some that were only a few days out of the egg and I would not do that again.


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## Travis (Oct 11, 2016)

I agree. I dont really think they're that fragile or get stressed out easily. With hatchlings and those younger than a year or so, i'm fairly gentle with them. With ones that are older, I dont try to be gentle. Dont get me wrong, i'm not rough with them either.

When picking them up, i typically don't support their legs and will just grab them. I just put them down, not hard or anything but also not really gentle. Just a normal set down. Mine never go into their shells ever or display any sort of stress. I set them down and they're instantly running towards their food. If there's no food, they just usually kinda sit there for awhile out of their shell just hangin out.


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## Kasia (Oct 11, 2016)

wellington said:


> I read comments on various threads all the time about this or that may be stressing your tortoise.
> What are your thoughts about it! Are they really that fragile?
> I personally think not. I'm not fragile with my torts. I do what I need to do for them and I don't tip toe around them. When I pick them up, i just grab them, I don't support their legs. Sometimes I carry them side ways. When/if they flip over, I just flip them back. When I put them down, I just put them down. If I want to carry more then one at a time, I put two in a bag, used to do three in a bag. Sometimes I can't reach them to pick them up, so I grab under their shell and drag them over to me. I have never seen a single sign of stress. They don't stay tucked into their shells. They don't stop eating. They don't stay hidden in their hides. They act as normal as I know their normal to be. Like a tortoise. Oh, and I have not had one sick or die.
> If they could be so easily stressed. Would they be able to survive as long as they have and do!
> What's your opionion?


In my opinion they are smart enough to associate stress with other creatures and/or places. If you don't hurt them they don't associate anything bad with you so you handling and being around is not something stressful for them. My Rufin after 3 or 4 Vet visits started pooping in the basket witch I have used to carry him in to the visit. He never did that and previously I have used that basket a million times with him. He is really chilled and relaxed tort, never shy, didn't bother sleeping on my lap like a dog. I think that torts are dumb but not as dumb as most of people think. Stress is a signal of adding two plus two from them and in my opinion something very different from getting used to a new obstacle/situation.


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## pclare (Oct 22, 2016)

I'm still relatively new to this forum, so I'll specify that my critters are boxies and pond turtles, not tortoises, so apologies if my view doesn't apply to tortoises specifically.

I've had most of my adults for 20+ years, and think nothing of grabbing, dragging, and digging (with fingers) them up out of their outdoor hidey holes this time of year when an unexpected cold snap occurs. 

Many times I've come home late, realized the temps were going too low, and headed back out to the turtle pen with a flashlight and a five gallon bucket. I very unceremoniously transport 5 dirt-covered adult boxies and a Vietnamese pond turtle in the bucket together to no ill effect. 

Are they clambering a bit? Sometimes. Fighting? No. The boxies could close up if they felt threatened, but don't, and I usually put the pond turtle on top because he's the largest (but not heavy), squirmiest, and would most object to being stepped on. These guys climb all over each other all the time. Next stop is a nice lukewarm soak in the bathtub (aka poopfest), a nice meal and then a relaxing time under a warming lamp. In other words, a trip to the spa for them, but leftovers for dinner for me!

On the other hand: I'm a teacher, and people say all the time that I should bring my turtles in to share with students. NOPE. I would never subject any animal to the deliberate poking and prodding of children simply for their own amusement under the guise of "education." That would fit my definition of "stressing" a turtle.


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## Mr Buster (Oct 25, 2016)

The first time I heard Buster hiss I thought he was trying to "warn" me. Like when a rattlesnake rattles. I now recognize it as a scream of terror.

One thing I try to be conscious of is routine and technique. It would be easy for me to put the food in his habitat while he is soaking and then put him back in and let him just start eating. I believe it is better to put him in the cage and let him see me afterwards place the food in and maybe even place food in front of him with my hands so he can see it and associate my movements and hands not with just handling which he may not appreciate and might scare him, but also with food.


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## nancyfurst (Oct 25, 2016)

My tortoises follow me every time they see me, but I never pick them up, I only hold them to put them in the soaking bowl, but I don't really handle them, so that has helped me a lot I'm guessing, since the "run" to me as soon as they see me, so they associate me with food for them


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