# Another obsevation of Butt wiggling and why?



## ZEROPILOT

Most of us have seen or heard of tortoise wiggling their rear ends when water or a hand or a soft brush touches the rear area of the shell and there has been talk about it being an enjoyable reaction or something else....
This is not a scientific test. Just an interesting observation: Recently, my ill Redfoot female slipped into a state that looked like she was dead and remained there for most of the day. Limp limbs. Head limp. Eyes open and glazed over. There was no movement or even reaction to touching her feet, etc. I even touched her eyeball with my finger. Nothing. She had pooped all over herself,so I decided to wash her and get her ready for burial the next day and I was surprised to notice that when I washed her "butt" area, she wiggled her rear back and forth.
This from an animal that was for all the world dead. 
She has since made a very slow recovery and continues to live, but it got me convinced that this reaction is a reflex and not a conscious pleasure reaction. Since an unconscious tortoise did it.
My big male gets his water changed every day and he walks to the hose and every day I spray him with water and he wiggles. Now, I'm thinking is it something he likes or maybe I've been annoying him every day.
Maybe it's far more difficult than I imagined to get into the mind of a tortoise.


----------



## spud's_mum

If it is a reflex, shouldn't all tortoises get it?
Spud doesn't do it.

I love it when they butt wiggle though; it's so cute!


----------



## spud's_mum

Also I've heard about tortoises going up to bushes etc and wiggling their butt on it voluntarily. 
Surely it's a nice feeling


----------



## ZEROPILOT

spudthetortoise said:


> If it is a reflex, shouldn't all tortoises get it?
> Spud doesn't do it.
> 
> I love it when they butt wiggle though; it's so cute!


My sick female rarely does it when she is active. Strange.


----------



## spud's_mum

ZEROPILOT said:


> My sick female rarely does it when she is active. Strange.


It's odd. 
Spud doesn't do it either


----------



## ZEROPILOT

spudthetortoise said:


> Also I've heard about tortoises going up to bushes etc and wiggling their butt on it voluntarily.
> Surely it's a nice feeling


I have brushes mounted in my pens that I have seen them brushing up against. They are there for that purpose.
Could it feel so good that even a tortoise in severe distress could like it that much?


----------



## spud's_mum

ZEROPILOT said:


> I have brushes mounted in my pens that I have seen them brushing up against. They are there for that purpose.
> Could it feel so good that even a tortoise in severe distress could like it that much?


Maybe it calms them?


----------



## johnandjade

every once in a while our guy will do 'the wiggle' or 'twerking' as we call it when he walks under his plastic plant.. we thought it was him just having a scaratch? 

found a funny vid on you tube of a turtle doing it under a tap, i'll try post a link


----------



## spud's_mum

Or maybe it tickles.
That would explain why some just don't.
And idk about you, but if I get tickled I can't help but move!

I just tried ticking spuds butt.
He just stretched his head out and looked at me like "wtf are you doing?"


----------



## johnandjade

if dont load punch 'twerking turtle' into youtube, brings a little


----------



## ZEROPILOT

spudthetortoise said:


> Or maybe it tickles.
> That would explain why some just don't.
> And idk about you, but if I get tickled I can't help but move!
> 
> I just tried ticking spuds butt.
> He just stretched his head out and looked at me like "wtf are you doing?"


Tickling could be an involuntary reaction I think.


----------



## johnandjade

i've read that males will do it as a way of sayin 'hey i aint female! get away from there' lol. good post though, really curious about this behaviour as well.


----------



## ZEROPILOT

johnandjade said:


> i've read that males will do it as a way of sayin 'hey i aint female! get away from there' lol. good post though, really curious about this behaviour as well.


My male is the best wiggler I've ever seen. He goes completely sideways!


----------



## johnandjade

hows bertha today?


----------



## Gillian M

Oli does it every now and then. The first thing that crossed my mind was that he was scratching.


----------



## Gillian M

spudthetortoise said:


> Maybe it calms them?





spudthetortoise said:


> Maybe it calms them?


That's another possibility. Unfortunately, there always some guess-work, anywhere. (Please do NOT take this personal: I do NOT mean you're doing the guess work. I mean in general, alright?)


----------



## spud's_mum

Gillian Moore said:


> That's another possibility. Unfortunately, there always some guess-work, anywhere. (Please do NOT take this personal: I do NOT mean you're doing the guess work. I mean in general, alright?)


Dot worry, I know what ya mean


----------



## Gillian M

spudthetortoise said:


> Dot worry, I know what ya mean


Great! I do NOT want to be misunderstood.


----------



## ZEROPILOT

Gillian Moore said:


> Great! I do NOT want to be misunderstood.


I'm sorry. I don't quite understand......


----------



## Tidgy's Dad

Tidgy did this a few times a couple of years ago, but only after she had been eating Shepherd's Purse.
The little pointy stems got stuck when she tried to pass them.
Other than this , never.


----------



## Tactical Tort

This is so crazy!
My Sherman just did this for the first time the other day! He walked up to me when I was filling his water and watering his grass and I ran the water on his shell. He spent 15 minutes wiggling and shaking under the water. Even when he walked off to get a bite to eat he came back and put himself under the flow. I couldn't help but laugh. If he didn't have such a flat bottom he would have fallen over he was wiggling so hard. 
It's interesting that others do this and their parents don't know what to make of it either  lol!


----------



## ZEROPILOT

Interesting, huh?
Some seem to really enjoy it and others even wiggle at deaths door.


----------



## Greg T

My male will wiggle most of the time when I scratch his backside. I figured it was just itchy from growth or weather conditions and he liked it. Who doesn't like a nice backrub? Strangely, neither of my females seem to like scratches as much.


----------



## ZEROPILOT

I have seven tortoises so far only my biggest male and sickly female do the wiggle.


----------



## Angel Carrion

I hear people say it's their way of throwing another turtle/tortoise off of them because either they are male or she is not receptive to his advances. I've heard other people say they think a predator is attacking/grabbing/whatever and is their way of trying to wiggle out of the predator's grasp. As some of you have said, they may have an itch, or find pleasure in having something rub against their butt. Personally, I think it could be all of the above. It could just be dependent on the situation. Like, I doubt a turtle/tortoise putting themselves under a hose turned on and doing the jitter bug is thinking it's a horny dude or a giant eagle.


----------



## Dragonight1993

I think it's cute.


----------



## lisa127

My male redfoot does it when he is wandering about in my living room and he backs up into the couch and wiggles.


----------



## turtlelady80

I have a few males that love butt scratchies...my one biggest male Herman Munster LOVES IT. When I go out in the morning and sit, he comes over to me and sits on my foot until I give him his daily butt scratch lol. It must feel good or something. Its adorable...


----------



## Tort Love

My 4 torts do this when I put the hose on them


----------

