# Train A Tortoise



## Dequan Jones (May 23, 2016)

I Have a 15 month old Sulcata that's around 3 1/2 inches ... I was wandering would the tortoise ever be capable or training???


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## JoesMum (May 23, 2016)

Dequan Jones said:


> I Have a 15 month old Sulcata that's around 3 1/2 inches ... I was wandering would the tortoise ever be capable or training???


No. 

They will learn where things are, what they like, who brings yummy food and what to expect at certain times, but you will never train a tort like you can train a dog. 

I posted a picture on here not so long ago of my tort trying to force his way through a fence to get at the lawn mower ... there was a massive gap in the fence only a couple of feet to his left, but he wasn't capable of working out that there was an easier route. That about sums up the intelligence level.


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## ZEROPILOT (May 24, 2016)

Mine (Redfoot) will all come out of their hiding/sleeping spots when I knock on the wooden sides of the enclosure. They know that it means food is there.
And they know that first to the plates gets the first pick of the food it seems.
So, it's also been my experience that any "training" involves food. It's just an adaptation for competition for food. Something similar to what they might do in the wild.


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## Gillian M (May 28, 2016)

*NO* and a "big" *NO*.

I tried time and once again to train my beloved Greek tort  (OLI) not to entre my bedroom, but I did not get anywhere. I only ended up wasting time and energy.  Torts do not have the brains (so as to say) of a dog/cat, despite the fact that the obviously have a nervous system.

And a very warm welcome to the forum!


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## Big Charlie (May 28, 2016)

Gillian Moore said:


> *NO* and a "big" *NO*.
> 
> I tried time and once again to train my beloved Greek tort  (OLI) not to entre my bedroom, but I did not get anywhere. I only ended up wasting time and energy.  Torts do not have the brains (so as to say) of a dog/cat, despite the fact that the obviously have a nervous system.
> 
> And a very warm welcome to the forum!


I couldn't even train my cat to stay out of my bedroom. I ended up getting a device that sprayed citronella at him when he got too close. It was the sudden spray that scared him away, not the smell.


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## Maggie Cummings (May 28, 2016)

yes. I trained Bob to follow my wiggling fingers. I could and did take him in public. He was taught to get into the "Bob Cart". He was taught to play soccer with me, using a 5 gallon bucket. He was taught lots of things. At Christmas a kid for $5 could get their pix taken with Bob, $10 with Bob and Santa. He did that every year for about 6 years. He was always invited to OSU's Pet Days, put on by the Veterinary dept.
But I spent about 80% of my time with him, and he was smarter than the average tortoise.....so I believe the amount of time spent, and the bonding helps to make them more open to learning things.

Now, I believe a 15 month old Sulcata that's only 3 inches is pretty small. I have a 7month old hopefully female, that is 6 inches and 399 grams. I mean no disrespect, but maybe you're not feeding your's enough. I feed mine morning and night. Just as much as she'll eat in one sitting. Then it's removed. Only the night feeding is left. But she's also put in an outside pen, and she continually grazes. She spends all day on grass,eating off and on. This Bob in the Vets office.... you could see him say"Did 'I' Do that?????"


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## dmmj (May 28, 2016)

Gillian Moore said:


> *NO* and a "big" *NO*.
> 
> I tried time and once again to train my beloved Greek tort  (OLI) not to entre my bedroom, but I did not get anywhere. I only ended up wasting time and energy.  Torts do not have the brains (so as to say) of a dog/cat, despite the fact that the obviously have a nervous system.
> 
> And a very warm welcome to the forum!


how did you attempt to train your tortoise? Positive and negative reinforcement?


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## christinaland128 (May 29, 2016)

I trained my Redfoots at a young age to go up and down a ramp without going over the edge. Did this with food.


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## Gillian M (May 29, 2016)

dmmj said:


> how did you attempt to train your tortoise? Positive and negative reinforcement?


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## Gillian M (May 29, 2016)

Big Charlie said:


> I couldn't even train my cat to stay out of my bedroom. I ended up getting a device that sprayed citronella at him when he got too close. It was the sudden spray that scared him away, not the smell.


I believe that cats as well as dogs can be easily trained to do/not to do certain things. I'm astonished that you could not train your cat.


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## Gillian M (May 29, 2016)

maggie3fan said:


> yes. I trained Bob to follow my wiggling fingers. I could and did take him in public. He was taught to get into the "Bob Cart". He was taught to play soccer with me, using a 5 gallon bucket. He was taught lots of things. At Christmas a kid for $5 could get their pix taken with Bob, $10 with Bob and Santa. He did that every year for about 6 years. He was always invited to OSU's Pet Days, put on by the Veterinary dept.
> But I spent about 80% of my time with him, and he was smarter than the average tortoise.....so I believe the amount of time spent, and the bonding helps to make them more open to learning things.
> 
> Now, I believe a 15 month old Sulcata that's only 3 inches is pretty small. I have a 7month old hopefully female, that is 6 inches and 399 grams. I mean no disrespect, but maybe you're not feeding your's enough. I feed mine morning and night. Just as much as she'll eat in one sitting. Then it's removed. Only the night feeding is left. But she's also put in an outside pen, and she continually grazes. She spends all day on grass,eating off and on. This Bob in the Vets office.... you could see him say"Did 'I' Do that?????"
> View attachment 175379


I feed (actually hand-feed) Oli 2-3 times a day, he gets exposed to the sun, has a nice big enclosure, a light and the rest. However, when it came to training him, there was a red light, I regret to say. Researchers, experts etc on the net confirmed this.


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## Rue (May 29, 2016)

Cats can be trained. But you have to be consistent. I use positive reinforcement to get them to come when called by name - i.e. food. I use negative reinforcement (i.e. over the top yelling, water spray, whatever) to let them know that the parrots are off limits...even the budgie. Don't even THINK of looking at a bird...

Our granny cat was never particularly interested in the birds so it was easy, but my 3 year old brother/sister pair are entirely different.

Regardless...the birds are not left unsupervised with the cats.

The end result of the training is different than what it is with dogs...but they are still trained.


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## Big Charlie (May 29, 2016)

Gillian Moore said:


> I believe that cats as well as dogs can be easily trained to do/not to do certain things. I'm astonished that you could not train your cat.


I think there is a wide variance in individual animals. I had one cat that was very intelligent and easily trained. She learned easily to not harm the pet bird; she understood that it was mine. She and I used to play hide and seek. She was smart enough to understand. My other cat is clueless, which makes him much more difficult to train. He could be taught some things but he needed frequent reinforcement. Even if he learned something, he would revert to his old behavior after awhile. I even had a guinea pig that I trained, but her siblings wouldn't.

Dogs, on the other hand, have a huge desire to please so that makes them easier to train.


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## Maggie Cummings (May 29, 2016)

Researchers and experts on the 'net mean nothing. I had a 17 yr old Sulcata who was trained. Ask anyone on this forum who knew Bob and they will all tell you he was trained. I had the time to do it and a smarter tortoise to do it with. End of discussion....
Keep handfeeding Oli and sooner or later you'll need stitches. If you hand feed a tortoise sooner or later they think your hand is the food. That's just my experience I didn't need a researcher or expert to tell me that....


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## Fredkas (Jun 3, 2016)

maggie3fan said:


> Researchers and experts on the 'net mean nothing. I had a 17 yr old Sulcata who was trained. Ask anyone on this forum who knew Bob and they will all tell you he was trained. I had the time to do it and a smarter tortoise to do it with. End of discussion....
> Keep handfeeding Oli and sooner or later you'll need stitches. If you hand feed a tortoise sooner or later they think your hand is the food. That's just my experience I didn't need a researcher or expert to tell me that....


Maggie, do you have a link for your thread or you can create a thread about how and what you train bob? I am really interested to that.
So we can not hand feed tortoise? They will, and absolutely will think our hand is food?


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## Gillian M (Jun 4, 2016)

maggie3fan said:


> Researchers and experts on the 'net mean nothing. I had a 17 yr old Sulcata who was trained. Ask anyone on this forum who knew Bob and they will all tell you he was trained. I had the time to do it and a smarter tortoise to do it with. End of discussion....
> Keep handfeeding Oli and sooner or later you'll need stitches. If you hand feed a tortoise sooner or later they think your hand is the food. That's just my experience I didn't need a researcher or expert to tell me that....


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## Maggie Cummings (Jun 4, 2016)

@jaizei There are many threads about Bob here on the forum. Just look them up or ask Cameron to help. He can find them all. It all starts with bonding, and takes years.

After a while of hand feeding a tortoise he starts to think the hand is food. My Bob who loved me dearly thought my hand was food and cost me 7 stitches. He was 15 at the time and no dummy. But any expert on the forum will tell you I am correct. Now I understand Oli is small and not likely to hurt much when he bites. But it is still unacceptable behaviour.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 4, 2016)

Fredkas said:


> Maggie, do you have a link for your thread or you can create a thread about how and what you train bob? I am really interested to that.
> So we can not hand feed tortoise? They will, and absolutely will think our hand is food?



There's not just one thread. When Bob was alive Maggie told us stories about him all the time. Do a search for "Bob" and put "maggie3fan" as the 'posted by memeber'.


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## jay surfs (Jun 4, 2016)

my 3 year old sulcata has bitten everyone in my family, all the kids and adults, simply from hand feeding. He is a ravenous creature when it comes to food. drew blood last week. mine mine mine mine. even my slow moving 24 year old cali desert tort bites if you keep your finger close enough.

So far the only training i have witnessed with my two torts is a conditioning in response to food. But now I am curious what is possible, based on Maggies experience. Will be fun to try.


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## von345 (Jun 4, 2016)

You tube it! There is a video of a man who has trained his tort to roll over and everything


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## Gillian M (Jun 5, 2016)

maggie3fan said:


> @jaizei There are many threads about Bob here on the forum. Just look them up or ask Cameron to help. He can find them all. It all starts with bonding, and takes years.
> 
> After a while of hand feeding a tortoise he starts to think the hand is food. My Bob who loved me dearly thought my hand was food and cost me 7 stitches. He was 15 at the time and no dummy. But any expert on the forum will tell you I am correct. Now I understand Oli is small and not likely to hurt much when he bites. But it is still unacceptable behaviour.


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## Fredkas (Jun 5, 2016)

maggie3fan said:


> @jaizei There are many threads about Bob here on the forum. Just look them up or ask Cameron to help. He can find them all. It all starts with bonding, and takes years.
> 
> After a while of hand feeding a tortoise he starts to think the hand is food. My Bob who loved me dearly thought my hand was food and cost me 7 stitches. He was 15 at the time and no dummy. But any expert on the forum will tell you I am correct. Now I understand Oli is small and not likely to hurt much when he bites. But it is still unacceptable behaviour.


You mention wrong member lol. Oh i love hand feeding my 3 months, and i think he / she enjoy it. If it is no good for the tortoise behaviour in the future, i guess i'll pass it.



Yvonne G said:


> There's not just one thread. When Bob was alive Maggie told us stories about him all the time. Do a search for "Bob" and put "maggie3fan" as the 'posted by memeber'.


I see. I'll search it.


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## Maverick (Jul 4, 2016)




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## Fredkas (Jul 4, 2016)

Maverick said:


>


Wow that RF is big!! The training give me idea


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## Gillian M (Jul 4, 2016)

Fredkas said:


> Wow that RF is big!! The training give me idea





Fredkas said:


> Wow that RF is big!! The training give me idea


I tried to train my tort not to entre my bedroom, however it did not work. I read that torts cannot be trained, and it seems to be true.


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## CathyNed (Jul 11, 2016)

Cant say much about training myself but I joke all the time that my tort is toilet trained. Since the day I got him he routinely eats his food, turns around and poops in his dish. The only time he poops elsewhere is when he is in the bath. I must admit its handy for cleaning purposes.
Otherwise he is not trained but has a routine. He knows when to come for food and when to go to his night box.


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## Mortis_thetortoise (Feb 9, 2017)

JoesMum said:


> No.
> 
> They will learn where things are, what they like, who brings yummy food and what to expect at certain times, but you will never train a tort like you can train a dog.
> 
> I posted a picture on here not so long ago of my tort trying to force his way through a fence to get at the lawn mower ... there was a massive gap in the fence only a couple of feet to his left, but he wasn't capable of working out that there was an easier route. That about sums up the intelligence level.




same thing can happen to dogs and even humans. once one gets too focused with one method to reach the the goal they can be blinded by other options to reach it. 

have you ever tricked a dog by faking throwing a ball and watching it run to find the ball ? does that make the dog stupid? No, it means the owner never exposed them to the experience. after working with my dog its impossible to "fake him out" as he has learned to watch the ball and not your hand. 

its like asking a elementary school kid to do high school math.... itll be easier to those previously exposed to the experience. 

im sure when he tries to escape from his enclosure he doesn't just try one spot and give up. after a while of trying hell figure out its not working and try another option until he is tired or is hungry or decides hes stuck.


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## JoesMum (Feb 9, 2017)

Mortis_thetortoise said:


> im sure when he tries to escape from his enclosure he doesn't just try one spot and give up. after a while of trying hell figure out its not working and try another option until he is tired or is hungry or decides hes stuck.


No he just keeps trying the one spot. We've had him over 40 years. It's never changed. He goes for the most direct route and will only move if I do.


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## Mortis_thetortoise (Feb 10, 2017)

JoesMum said:


> No he just keeps trying the one spot. We've had him over 40 years. It's never changed. He goes for the most direct route and will only move if I do.



interesting


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## Gillian M (Feb 10, 2017)

CathyNed said:


> Cant say much about training myself but I joke all the time that my tort is toilet trained. Since the day I got him he routinely eats his food, turns around and poops in his dish. The only time he poops elsewhere is when he is in the bath. I must admit its handy for cleaning purposes.
> Otherwise he is not trained but has a routine. He knows when to come for food and when to go to his night box.


You are lucky and so is your tort.


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## Beasty_Artemis (Feb 17, 2017)

Oh....wow! Cool video!!!

I have always had lots of reptiles since i was a little girl. And my red foot tortoise , Artemis, is actually really responsive to training! Oh and she is around 5 inches long, so she is still a little girl.
She reacts and comes to her name! Then follows me around the perimeter of her table. She lets different people give her pets on the head other than just myself.
She always starts eating or searching for food when i say "feeding time baby"!

Then sometimes, if i dont give her enough veriety in her salad, she will get butt-hurt and just keep burying herself if i take her out again. Lately she is very picky and will not eat clover....

But i recomend positive reinforcement! I would give her a treat if she walked up to me, or followed me around her kingdom. Teach them that their "human pet" is just around to give them goodies.


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## Gillian M (Feb 18, 2017)

Beasty_Artemis said:


> Oh....wow! Cool video!!!
> 
> I have always had lots of reptiles since i was a little girl. And my red foot tortoise , Artemis, is actually really responsive to training! Oh and she is around 5 inches long, so she is still a little girl.
> She reacts and comes to her name! Then follows me around the perimeter of her table. She lets different people give her pets on the head other than just myself.
> ...


Interesting. Don't know whether or not you read my post as far as training a tort is concerned. I tried to train Oli not to entre my bedroom. However, not only did it not work. It was the ONE and ONLY room he wanted to entre! "Forbidden fruit is the sweetest" I thought - lol!


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 19, 2017)

maggie3fan said:


> @jaizei It all starts with bonding, and takes years.
> After a while of hand feeding a tortoise he starts to think the hand is food. My Bob who loved me dearly thought my hand was food and cost me 7 stitches. He was 15 at the time and no dummy.


And it all seems to end with YOU being trained not to hand feed. Perhaps the concept here should be changed to, "Can a human be trained with a tortoise?" And not visa-versa?


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## Kenno (May 4, 2017)

I have a couple of fresh thoughts on intelligence and training of desert torts.

I have three males, ages guessed at about 100, 40, and 20.

Old Duncan is clearly the most intelligent and proves it in many ways. He is the only one who truly hates to be lifted from the ground. He flails wildly, and when he touches the ground again he pulls into his shell for a while. I try to avoid picking him up.

The conflict is that my wife doesn't want tortoises on the back porch, which involves an easy climb of two steps. This year we are trying to avoid putting up the usual fences. When they climb and clatter up the steps, I pick them up and move them out to the grass. 

Old Duncan has stopped coming onto the porch! The last time he started to climb, he saw me coming and turned around! 

The 40 year old is recovering from bladder stone surgery and does not have the energy to make the climb, yet. He is coming along well, and eats more every day. 

The youngest, who has finally stopped growing, is hopeless in terms of staying off the porch. I lift him down about 4 times a day. He seems to like the ride! He's the only one who does,t enjoy climbing into the 22 inch water dish, so maybe I'll start moving him from porch to water dish.

There is no food on the porch, but it is another big space to explore. 

My final thought is that their intelligence seems to be directly related to their age. Maybe they keep learning and getting smarter. The middle guy has learned a couple of tricks from Old Duncan, like pulling his body over some food and then backing off gradually to protect his share. 

Opinions and other observations are welcomed and encouraged!


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## WithLisa (May 4, 2017)

Kenno said:


> He's the only one who does,t enjoy climbing into the 22 inch water dish, so maybe I'll start moving him from porch to water dish.


Or maybe try a water gun? Positive and negative reinforcement works on any kind of animal, you just have to find the right stimuli.


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## Kenno (May 4, 2017)

WithLisa said:


> Or maybe try a water gun? Positive and negative reinforcement works on any kind of animal, you just have to find the right stimuli.



I'll consider that.


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## seanang168 (May 21, 2017)

My star tortoises would bite me accidentally when I hand feed and I would cry out in pain and shook my fingers off. I did notice that whenever this happns, they took extra precautions on their next bites.


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## Jeremiah briggs (May 21, 2017)

seanang168 said:


> My star tortoises would bite me accidentally when I hand feed and I would cry out in pain and shook my fingers off. I did notice that whenever this happns, they took extra precautions on their next bites.


Maybe you just don't taste that good


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## seanang168 (May 22, 2017)

Jeremiah briggs said:


> Maybe you just don't taste that good


No I think they are taking precautions not to bite the hands that feed them


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## Pearly (May 22, 2017)

Kenno said:


> I have a couple of fresh thoughts on intelligence and training of desert torts.
> 
> I have three males, ages guessed at about 100, 40, and 20.
> 
> ...


Love to read stories about real old torts! Your trio sounds really cool


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