# Do Tortoises Dream?



## Tanksowner (Nov 7, 2012)

So, whats your opinion, i know that sometimes my Tortoise has been sleeping with his head out (as he is below) and with no interaction suddenly awoken and gone into his shell, Nightmare perhaps?


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## mctlong (Nov 7, 2012)

Very interesting question! 

I've never sen my torts move or twitch when they sleep, so I'm not sure if they dream. I hope they do.

Love the pic of the little guy sleeping. I hope he didn't have a nightmare.


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## mightymizz (Nov 7, 2012)

I see my torts often with their eyes closed moving their head a little and sometimes a leg or two as well.


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## wellington (Nov 7, 2012)

If they do. I hope their dreams make more sense then ours


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## laney (Nov 7, 2012)

It's weird because I was wondering the same thing last night! Yoshi settled down in his usual routine and about 2hours later he got up all startled and confused looking, I put it down to a bad dream and scooped him up and he snuggled into me and fell asleep before I put him back. He always settles down nicely at bed time but once a few weeks ago I found him just sitting in his water at 5am, he was so cold when I took him out he must have been in for a while but he looked super confused like he had been dreaming or something. Dogs dream, so I don't see why torts wouldn't


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## Jacqui (Nov 8, 2012)

I don't know if they do, but I sure hope they do.


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## diaboliqueturtle (Nov 8, 2012)

Tanksowner said:


> So, whats your opinion, i know that sometimes my Tortoise has been sleeping with his head out (as he is below) and with no interaction suddenly awoken and gone into his shell, Nightmare perhaps?



Aww what a cutie pie! I think they do dream, my red foot will suddenly hiss, retreat in her shell and breathe heavily, for no obvious reasons...


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## Liam Owen (Nov 8, 2012)

I also think they dream because my sulcata sue is always shaking his head when his. Eyes are closed, which I think is when he's asleep but might not be, really cool thing to think about!!!


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Nov 8, 2012)

They probably don't dream, because they don't have as large a cerebral cortex as birds and mammals have.


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## Terry Allan Hall (Nov 11, 2012)

GeoTerraTestudo said:


> They probably don't dream, because they don't have as large a cerebral cortex as birds and mammals have.



OTOH, they act more intelligently than some folks I've known...


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## ottosmom18 (Dec 10, 2012)

laney said:


> It's weird because I was wondering the same thing last night! Yoshi settled down in his usual routine and about 2hours later he got up all startled and confused looking, I put it down to a bad dream and scooped him up and he snuggled into me and fell asleep before I put him back. He always settles down nicely at bed time but once a few weeks ago I found him just sitting in his water at 5am, he was so cold when I took him out he must have been in for a while but he looked super confused like he had been dreaming or something. Dogs dream, so I don't see why torts wouldn't



I love the name Yoshi. I agree with you, because Otto has slept with his head out and then all of a sudden sucked it back in his shell.


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## evlinLoutries (Dec 11, 2012)

I sometimes had this situations too..

Lol


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## Zamric (Dec 11, 2012)

The attendant at my Sleep Study explained that draming is the brains way of De-Fraging (like your hard drive) If this is true then thier much smaller brains (say 1 gig hard drive) would need to de-frag much more often than our MUCH larger brains (say 10 TB)

By this explanation I can extrapilate that retiles as a whole probably start dreaming soon after they fall asleep and dream through most of thier sleep cycle.

Of course.... this is JUST speculation


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## Katherine (Dec 11, 2012)

I hope they do dream and that they are all wonderful dreams about me, because I often dream about them!  But, kidding aside I think it is unlikely.


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## laney (Jan 26, 2013)

Poor Harley woke up all startled and shy this morning, he is normally such a confident little loon! I'm sure it was a horrible dream as I sleep in the same room as him and nothing happened to make him like this today, definitely got outa the wrong side of the hide lol


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## TortTopper (Jan 26, 2013)

Gee, What goes on in the mind of a tortoise.


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## Nixxy (Jan 28, 2013)

No idea if they do or don't..

Though from a scientific angle, this is quite an interesting question (And a broad one...what creatures do dream? Which do not?) to ask.

I, too, have seen my tortoise show signs of dreaming. Sure, not as obvious as when a dog is chasing something or whimpering in his sleep..But most body language of turtles/tortoises is more subtle.


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## Watsonpartyof4 (Jan 28, 2013)

laney said:


> It's weird because I was wondering the same thing last night! Yoshi settled down in his usual routine and about 2hours later he got up all startled and confused looking, I put it down to a bad dream and scooped him up and he snuggled into me and fell asleep before I put him back. He always settles down nicely at bed time but once a few weeks ago I found him just sitting in his water at 5am, he was so cold when I took him out he must have been in for a while but he looked super confused like he had been dreaming or something. Dogs dream, so I don't see why torts wouldn't



Tyrone did this last night .. He was in his water dish and looking all disoriented and then he was running around all wide awake .. So I put him I his tub of warm water for a soak. After 20 mins I put him back in his viv and he went over next to his hide and settled in and went to sleep ( he isn't sleeping in his hide, because he gave it to the cuttlebone to sleep in)


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## Tortus (Jan 28, 2013)

I have a video of my tortoise moving in its sleep. I figured it was dreaming.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jan 28, 2013)

Tortus said:


> I have a video of my tortoise moving in its sleep. I figured it was dreaming.



Probably just breathing or getting comfortable.


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## animalfreak (Jan 28, 2013)

laney said:


> It's weird because I was wondering the same thing last night! Yoshi settled down in his usual routine and about 2hours later he got up all startled and confused looking, I put it down to a bad dream and scooped him up and he snuggled into me and fell asleep before I put him back. He always settles down nicely at bed time but once a few weeks ago I found him just sitting in his water at 5am, he was so cold when I took him out he must have been in for a while but he looked super confused like he had been dreaming or something. Dogs dream, so I don't see why torts wouldn't



Wow! Lol I mean I see what your saying maybe they do! My dog barks, howls, and like showed her teeth in her sleep! Maybe that's kind of cool if they do!


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## Mgridgaway (Jan 29, 2013)

Do they dream? It's certainly possible, but I've seen no evidence for it (jerking and twitching don't necessarily denote dreaming). Cats dream of pouncing mice (fact!). We've all seen the sleeping dog videos.

But tortoises are reptiles, so they may not need to dream.

I think the more important question though is "What do tortoises dream of?"


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