# Introducing your tort to other family pets



## Odin's Gma (Feb 1, 2015)

Aside from our little sulcata, we also have 3 cats and a gecko. Our Odin is nearly 9 months old and we have been gradually trying to get the cats familiar with him to make certain there are no serious issues , so for about 10-15 minutes every week or two we let him roam a bit (always within arms reach) while the cats are present.
Our youngest cat, a poly-dactyl female calico, has no interest in him whatsoever. He can walk right over her paws and she just carries on with her business. The middle cat, a male long-haired black cat is a complete pain. He follows Odin around and is always trying to touch and sniff him, has even managed to flip him over a time or two! (no claws or teeth, just curiosity and maybe a little stupidity ) But our oldest cat, a male orange tabby, is the one with whom the interactions really fascinate me. Odin just seems drawn to him, Big Jim (the cat) will just lay nearby waiting and within short order Odin heads for him and nuzzles partially underneath him and then immediately falls asleep! It happens every time and they will snuggle like that as long as we allow it (never more than a few minutes to date). Big Jim will also not let the other cats near them when they are snuggling. If they come too close he slowly raises his paw and gives them a look and they turn and walk away.

Does anyone else have other pets with whom their tort seems to have a special or unusual relationship with?


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Feb 2, 2015)

Well... I understand what you're trying to do, but I'm worried about him on the floor! 
There are 7 cats here. Not a single one cares about mr russian, and show very little interest in the turtles. Our indoor/outdoor kitty may stare at miss sulcata if she's out, but hardly ever interacts.
And so, the cats have earned an amount of trust with them (meaning I don't hover when they decide to take a nap on the lid(which I discourage) )
Big Jim is warm and toasty. Your tort 'may' be being drawn to the warmest spot nearby


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 2, 2015)

I am worried about him on the floor too, which is why it is only for short periods of time and only with both my son and I flanking him and hovering constantly. The cats aren't allowed in Odin's (my sons) room and our concern is that if they ever do manage to get in there they could harass or injure him, so we want them to know what he is.

That is what I think too, I'm just surprised that it is always the same warm toasty critter and that Big Jim seems to enjoy it so much.


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## Jodie (Feb 2, 2015)

Interesting. I have no explanation, but would caution against ever trusting the cats when you're not watching. Dog horror stories are unlimited, but there are cat horror stories too. It is purely instinct.


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## wellington (Feb 2, 2015)

So very cute pic. Hard to say why he likes that one the most. Maybe the color, maybe the calm the tort gets from the cat? I understand what you are trying to do, hopefully it will work should they ever get in with your tort by themselves.


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## Heather H (Feb 2, 2015)

I worry about the same thing 3 cats here too.and a dog. I found one cat in the enclosure 2 times , jumped right in with me there. I don't think it was the tort but the warm light and yummy plants. I didn't introduce my animals to the tort.


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## Heather H (Feb 2, 2015)

Is big Jim the dominant cat of the house? My female is the dominant here. She once stunned a mouse and snuggled it, did not let the other two near. I removed the mouse so I don't know what she was going to do? Play with it or eat it? Cats are fast


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## johnsonnboswell (Feb 2, 2015)

I have never introduced a tort to a family pet, and I never will. The introductions may go splendidly, but that's no guaranty that everything will stay safe. The cat may later decide that the tortoise is prey, and then no amount of family feeling will operate. A dog may simply pick up the tort and puncture the shell by accident, and some dogs will chew it deliberately. Introductions aren't going to prevent bad things from happening. We prevent them by setting it up so they can't. 

It would be nice if it worked that way, but it usually doesn't. The risk is enormous. The best thing is to keep them apart.


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## leigti (Feb 2, 2015)

In my opinion your tortoise is way too small to be around the cats at all. there may not ever be a problem but at this size they could hurt him very quickly and severely. give it a few years and the tables will be reversed  my cats will go up and sniffed my tortoise and then walk away. But my tortoise is bigger than yours. my dog is very good at "leave it" and she will not get near the tortoise however I still did not ever leave them unsupervised. A dog is a dog and the cat is a cat, they have instincts and although they may not mean to hurt your tortoise they could. I've watched a cat "keep" a live mouse for over 24 hours and it looked like they were buddies, until I found half the mouse on the back porch. The friendship was over. Secure the enclosure so your animals cannot get into it.


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## Tom (Feb 2, 2015)

The best way to introduce them is to not introduce them. Teach all your other animals to avoid the tortoise like the plague.

And I would not put your tortoise on the floor ever. You are taking a huge risk.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 3, 2015)

The intention is to never leave the tort with the cats unattended and as it is now they have very minimal interaction, but cats are tricky and torts do what they want. On the very slim (nearly nonexistent) chance they ever were to cross paths in the house without the humans around, I want the cats to know that he is not an interloper or prey. And yes, Big Jim is the dominant pet in the household, with him being at ease with the tort the others have started to follow suit. Even the pesky black is starting to lose interest. Fortunately it won't be too long before the cats will be outmatched by Odin's size and I will worry a little bit less.
And to put minds at ease, the floor thing is exceedingly rare, most of their introductory visits have been held while Odin has been in his gardens with them looking on or with one of us holding him. This was more of a photo op than a regular occurrence.


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## TarHeelNC (Feb 3, 2015)

My guys have done great. I have two dogs and cats and three Redfooots. I keep them inside in a very large plastic tub enclosure and they aren't bothered at all. I let them sniff the torts and watch them when they eat and they have been extremely respectful. Cooper my Boston loves to watch them move around. He even licked them sweetly the first time they meet and not in a I want to eat you way lol.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

My son and Odin were hanging out on the couch while I was pulling out one of the new garden trays today and as soon as my son set him down he went right for Big Jim and Jim was only too happy to give him a snuggle.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 22, 2015)

Need I say anything more…?


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> Need I say anything more…?


Yes. I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 22, 2015)

Yeah...I don't introduce mine either. When I first got Misty and she was in a tortoise pen with me, I scolded her quite roughly every time she went near a tortoise. I didn't even want her near enough to sniff. She's never outside unless I'm outside too, but so far she shows no interest at all. And I have many outside cats. They have never shown an interest in the tortoises.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 22, 2015)

With all the outdoor tortoise I have, logic would dictate Ava, (dog) showing some interest in them. Not even while they are breeding does she show interest. Yet when that native painted turtle was walking through the place, holy crowe I had to put her inside because she wanted to have some negative bonding time with it.


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## Mavrik (Feb 22, 2015)

I do not trust my dogs with my shellings, simply because they have no concept of personal space. Anytime I have put a tortoise on the floor or something when I am cleaning, even if just for a second, all 3 dogs are over in the face of the tortoises and will not leave them alone -- not in an "I'm going to eat you", way but a "What's-this-ohmygod-it's-moving!" way. They will not back off for any reason, they just keep following the tortoise around like rats with the Pied Piper. The dogs do not attack, but it stresses the tortoises out enough that I just give them a break and keep the dogs out of the kitchen when I'm working in there.

My one kitten though, she likes to go sit in the tortoise tables (most likely due to the warmth). She does not bother the tortoises -- they will actually come to her and snuggle with her, probably because she is a large warm thing in their warm enclosure. Her special friend is Thor the Sulcata, but she has also been witnessed snuggling with Gorbachev and Oatmeal the Russians, as well as Chava the Redfoot in a different enclosure. I check on everyone often to make sure there is no funny business going on, and I figure as long as everything is still copacetic then there's nothing to worry about.


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## bouaboua (Feb 22, 2015)

My other pet are Love birds and parakeets. 

No introduction needed. They never interfering with each other. I'm very safe in this department.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> With all the outdoor tortoise I have, logic would dictate Ava, (dog) showing some interest in them. Not even while they are breeding does she show interest. Yet when that native painted turtle was walking through the place, holy crowe I had to put her inside because she wanted to have some negative bonding time with it.


We don't currently have any dogs, and if we did I wouldn't be so quick to make introductions and I would certainly never turn my back on them.
I am still just amazed that Big Jim and Odin seem to gravitate towards each other whenever the chance arises. Odin has no interest in the other cats and they don't have much in him. It's just odd.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 22, 2015)

Odin's Gma said:


> We don't currently have any dogs, and if we did I wouldn't be so quick to make introductions and I would certainly never turn my back on them.
> I am still just amazed that Big Jim and Odin seem to gravitate towards each other whenever the chance arises. Odin has no interest in the other cats and they don't have much in him. It's just odd.



I wonder if it has to do with his color.


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## leigti (Feb 22, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> I wonder if it has to do with his color.


Maybe. I have a big orange and white cat and my Russian tortoise would walk right up to him and basically walk under them if the cat didn't move. He didn't do that with the other cat which is a brown tabby.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> I wonder if it has to do with his color.


Maybe, they are very complementary,


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

leigti said:


> Maybe. I have a big orange and white cat and my Russian tortoise would walk right up to him and basically walk under them if the cat didn't move. He didn't do that with the other cat which is a brown tabby.


That's what Odin does, just walks right under and into him and within moments tucks into his shell to doze off and Jim just curls right up with him. Not at all the interaction I initially expected.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 22, 2015)

Baxter hung out once, more with me than the russians. He thought we were doing a kitty-walk-a-bout but I wasn't so he just crashed out.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> Baxter hung out once, more with me than the russians. He thought we were doing a kitty-walk-a-bout but I wasn't so he just crashed out.


That's how the other two cats are. If we are doing something that interests them (the black cat loves the gardens) they might walk over and give Odin a sniff or just watch him for a bit but in general they have zero interest in him and he in them. I wonder if it will be different when he is their size and larger?


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 22, 2015)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> Baxter hung out once, more with me than the russians. He thought we were doing a kitty-walk-a-bout but I wasn't so he just crashed out.


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## leigti (Feb 22, 2015)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> View attachment 119466


 Holy cow, how big is that enclosure and how many Russians are in there?


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 22, 2015)

Only about 50% is visible in that picture. I've got 13 in there and for the most part, it's big enough that they get along. But that's a separate thread.


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## leigti (Feb 22, 2015)

True, different thread I was just curious. I think your cat just likes being there next to the nice warm wall. my cats look at my tortoise and Boxturtle as a form of entertainment. Something to watch, but that's about it.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

leigti said:


> my cats look at my tortoise and Boxturtle as a form of entertainment. Something to watch, but that's about it.


What color are your cats?


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## tglazie (Feb 22, 2015)

Tortoises and mammals generally don't mix. Even most of the hairless apes occupying the planet haven't the refinement to mind their manners in the presence of these magnificent chelonia, so expecting good behavior of a dog whose kind was domesticated by said hairless apes is really asking too much. I have no bad experiences with dogs of my own, but I have had several with the dogs of others. I had a couple of neighbors, back when I was in my mid teens, who wouldn't win any prizes for pet owner of the year. They had a couple labs to whom they paid absolutely no attention. I remember the wife complaining to me one time that her dogs were uprooting any new plants they would bury in the backyard, after which I asked her how often they walked the dogs, explaining that labs are energetic water dogs that need to have the energy run out of them. She disagreed with me, saying that she had labs before, and that they did fine just running about the back yard. I told her she would know better than me, given that I'm not in the habit of engaging in petty disagreements with my neighbors. 

Anyway, one of those bored dogs ended up getting rather agitated one day, and the dog decided to break a hole in my wooden fence. From there, the dog moved to attack my sulcata Jerry, who was around twenty five pounds at the time. Fortunately, I was home, so I was able to intervene before the dog did any significant damage. 

Ever since such incidences, I feel, for me at least, that there isn't enough room in my life and on my property for tortoises and dogs. I do keep cats, though, given their proficiency at controlling rats and other vermin. Baby tortoises must absolutely be secured against them, but I find that cats really don't bother tortoises, doing everything they can to stay free of their path. 

T.G.


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## leigti (Feb 22, 2015)

Odin's Gma said:


> What color are your cats?


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

leigti said:


> *cute kitties*


Hmm. The orange cat theory seems less likely now....


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 22, 2015)

We have black and white, grey and white, orange and white, all white and a kinda raccoon marked cats. None pay the tortoises any real attention. I count on Ava the dog to help with critter control here at the place at night.


The horses, now they were confused as you can see


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## leigti (Feb 22, 2015)

Odin's Gma said:


> Hmm. The orange cat theory seems less likely now....


My tortoise would only walk towards an under the orange cat. Didn't pay any attention to the tabby. And my orange cat was the first to walk up to the tortoise and check her out. The first time she smacked him right on top of the shell and ran away. After that she would just sniff and then lay down and watch.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 22, 2015)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> I count on Ava the dog to help with critter control here at the place at night. ]


Ava has a beautiful smile!


leigti said:


> My tortoise would only walk towards an under the orange cat. Didn't pay any attention to the tabby. And my orange cat was the first to walk up to the tortoise and check her out. The first time she smacked him right on top of the shell and ran away. After that she would just sniff and then lay down and watch.



Orange cat theory back on the table! 

That also cracks me up because our Big Jim is also a "thumper", that's how he keeps the other cats in line (bops them on the head, sometimes rapid fire. It's hilarious!), but he gives the tort nothing but love.


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## leigti (Feb 22, 2015)

tglazie said:


> Tortoises and mammals generally don't mix. Even most of the hairless apes occupying the planet haven't the refinement to mind their manners in the presence of these magnificent chelonia, so expecting good behavior of a dog whose kind was domesticated by said hairless apes is really asking too much. I have no bad experiences with dogs of my own, but I have had several with the dogs of others. I had a couple of neighbors, back when I was in my mid teens, who wouldn't win any prizes for pet owner of the year. They had a couple labs to whom they paid absolutely no attention. I remember the wife complaining to me one time that her dogs were uprooting any new plants they would bury in the backyard, after which I asked her how often they walked the dogs, explaining that labs are energetic water dogs that need to have the energy run out of them. She disagreed with me, saying that she had labs before, and that they did fine just running about the back yard. I told her she would know better than me, given that I'm not in the habit of engaging in petty disagreements with my neighbors.
> 
> Anyway, one of those bored dogs ended up getting rather agitated one day, and the dog decided to break a hole in my wooden fence. From there, the dog moved to attack my sulcata Jerry, who was around twenty five pounds at the time. Fortunately, I was home, so I was able to intervene before the dog did any significant damage.
> 
> ...


People who don't interact with and train their animals drive me insane. I'm talking domesticated animals here like dogs. with a big tortoise like yours the cats are smart to stay away. I have a wide array of animals and I like that they seem to get along well. But I definitely keep track of what the dog is doing even though she has never shown any aggression towards the tortoise. She is still a dog. my friends dog would eat my tortoise in one second if given the chance. She doesn't seem to quite understand why I get so intense about keeping her dog away from my tortoise, box turtle, and chickens as far as that goes. start some dogs have a much higher prey drive than others and hers is at the top.


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## tglazie (Feb 22, 2015)

It's funny, given that my cats were around when Jerry was still stomping the grounds (he passed away a few years back due to a spinal wasting disease my vet was unable to effectively treat; my vet is very good, and to this day, Jerry was the only one of my animals he was unable to save; it's just that the problem was completely unprecedented), and I do believe that their memory of the terrifying giant tortoise bulldozing his way through the yard established a sort of archetype in their brains, some notion that all tortoises were insatiably curious, unstoppable armored beasts who could only be stopped by concrete walls. Perhaps I have this all wrong, but now, these guys actually seem afraid of my marginateds and run anytime the tortoises draw near. It's always funny to watch Stinky, a cat my younger brother named who also happens to be my chief resident rat catcher, sun herself in this one bald spot in Gino's enclosure. Gino innevitably ends up walking over to bask or get a closer look at the territorial invader, and she immediately moves to the top of the cinderblock fence, beyond Gino's reach. She'll do this even if she's having a time rolling in the dirt of the bald spot. As soon as she sees Gino coming, she high tails it out of there. Given the similarity of this behavior when Jerry was around, I always figured she'd learned it from those times, given that the first time she encountered Jerry when she was a kitten, she wasn't so swift and almost got stepped on. She angrily swatted at Jerry's armored side when he drew too close, all to no effect of course, and when she realized the futility of her fight response, she immediately fled to the safety of the enclosure wall. And she's been doing it ever since. 

Her behavior around the baby torts is different. She's always curious whenever I go to the hatchling paddocks to remove the screen tops (for feeding, bringing the babes indoors for the night or late afternoon, etc.), and she watches those babies like a hawk stalking an unsuspecting quarry. There are times when she takes a pounce position, at which point I shoo her away, an action that always leaves her slightly perturbed, an emotion she expresses by turning her back to me as her ears go slightly backward. Usually when I approach from behind to pet her, usually making light of her apparent disdain in playful baby talk, she waits until I'm almost within reach, at which point she dashes away. She normally chills out once I offer food, at which point all is forgiven. I am certain she would make minced meat of these guys, like she regularly does with the unfortunate green anoles that occasionally find themselves in the insect rich confines of my property. I discourage her every anolicide I catch, but unfortunately, it really is something that's hard wired into her behavior. Plus, it's got to be confusing, given that I heap lavish praise upon her every time she catches a rat but scold her every time she kills a lizard or songbird. But hey, I don't know. I'm no expert. Maybe she doesn't care how I behave around her, so long as I'm not willfully cruel or stingy with the food. 

T.G.


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## TarHeelNC (Feb 23, 2015)

I say it depends on the dogs or cats.. My guys do much better not being curious about things. The sooner I get the curiosity out of the way to sooner they don't care. Lol I won't be letting them walk around together till the torts are much much bigger but for my pups, casual introduction cures their curiosity and makes them much more respectful of the boundaries. They know they can sit and watch them. And that when I bring them out for baths that they can sniff them and watch them. Honestly my cats have give zero sh*ts about them. They like watching the fish lol and Cooper seems to be the only one who wants to interact with the torts. So I let him to keep him from getting too curious. Seems to have worked out great for us.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 23, 2015)

TarHeelNC said:


> My guys do much better not being curious about things. The sooner I get the curiosity out of the way to sooner they don't care.


That was my goal also. Cats are inherently nosy and when you try and keep something from them that they know is there, they seem to make it their lifes goal to get it / break it/ knock it down-whatever. Now that they realize that the tort just isn't that much fun (for them) the other two ceased to care. Big Jim is the exception, he seems to think Odin is a snuggle buddy, but I guess that is better than a plaything.


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## newCH (Feb 23, 2015)

If Sheldon needs a friend it better be me or a stuffed animal then !
So far, he seems ok.


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