Is there a way I can find out if my tortoise likes music?

Cathie G

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Well...I have a deaf brother (seriously) but he can feel the vibrations of sounds through his feet? That's his way of hearing music and other sounds.?
I also have to say he can feel sounds through the air. Before I had his door light instead of doorbell installed he could feel us pounding on his door through the air. My brother is profoundly deaf which means he has no hearing at all. He has 2% in one ear and none in the other. Sometimes hearing can be feeling.
 

roxy-lou

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Tortoises can’t hear, experiments with forum member here have proven it.

Also, heavy metal is not stressful. I find it quite enjoyable and relaxing. Soothes the savage beast.

How about sorting out your tortoises visual preferences instead? Try offering different colored objects of the same item, like a plastic ball or something, and see if the tortoise has a preference for one color over another?
Does anyone know if they can hear those devices that keep mice away
The high pitched tone ones
We had mice I was afraid to put it on in case my tort could hear it
 

Joshnup2

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That's an interesting idea - are you planning to expose him to each sort of music one after another? I think,if so, that would be a bit unfair, as he would probably get really fed up with the situation quickly. You would have to give him a turn with each sort of music quite separately.
Our tortoise is a Hermanns, and he is 21 years old - I can tell you that he really hates flute music, and anything really loud and harsh. He listened to a Rolling Stones concert on tv when he was quite small, and seemed to enjoy that - and someone played the harp to him, once , and he really seemed to love it. So he can like very different things.
The trouble is that his reaction (or Albert's) is going to be affected by other things too - where he is- if he is hungry - who is with him, and so on.
How are you going to tell if he likes something?
I Know tortoises don't hear the same way as humans, but they certainly respond to sounds.
Good luck
Angie
Could you post a pic of your guy? I have a baby Hermann and would love to see a pic of an older 1 that is a single one like mine! Do you wish you had more or very happy with just 1?
 

zolasmum

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Could you post a pic of your guy? I have a baby Hermann and would love to see a pic of an older 1 that is a single one like mine! Do you wish you had more or very happy with just 1?
Hello - I am always happy to show pictures of Zola - we think he is beautiful. When we got him he had a smallish split in the top of his shell - over his head - we gather that he was probably stepped on when his shell was still soft. This has grown, of course, over time. My husband made this picture from a recent photo of Zola, plus ones of him on the left aged 2, and one on the right aged 3. As you can see, he has lost a lot of his shell pattern, but in a good light, his colour now really glows.
As for your question, no, we would never want more - he takes up a lot of our time, as he expects lots of attention, but he is a real joy to us.
Angie
 

zolasmum

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Could you post a pic of your guy? I have a baby Hermann and would love to see a pic of an older 1 that is a single one like mine! Do you wish you had more or very happy with just 1?
Hello - I am always happy to show pictures of Zola - we think he is beautiful. When we got him he had a smallish split in the top of his shell - over his head - we gather that he was probably stepped on when his shell was still soft. This has grown, of course, over time. My husband made this picture from a recent photo of Zola, plus one of him on the left aged 2, and one on the right aged 3. As you can see, he has lost a lot of his shell pattern, but in a good light, his colour now really glows.
As for your question, no, we would never want more - he takes up a lot of our time, as he expects lots of attention, but he is a real joy to us.
Angie
growing-up_sm.jpg
 

Joshnup2

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Hello - I am always happy to show pictures of Zola - we think he is beautiful. When we got him he had a smallish split in the top of his shell - over his head - we gather that he was probably stepped on when his shell was still soft. This has grown, of course, over time. My husband made this picture from a recent photo of Zola, plus one of him on the left aged 2, and one on the right aged 3. As you can see, he has lost a lot of his shell pattern, but in a good light, his colour now really glows.
As for your question, no, we would never want more - he takes up a lot of our time, as he expects lots of attention, but he is a real joy to us.
Angie
View attachment 336462
That's awesome thank you I can't believe how the color changes so much. I also can't believe the personality they have mine runs to my hand when I put it in her tub they are so cute! I'm glad you fixed your up after an accident I can't really see the damage but glad you got him!!!
 

zolasmum

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Tortoises can’t hear, experiments with forum member here have proven it.

Also, heavy metal is not stressful. I find it quite enjoyable and relaxing. Soothes the savage beast.

How about sorting out your tortoises visual preferences instead? Try offering different colored objects of the same item, like a plastic ball or something, and see if the tortoise has a preference for one color over another?
I think this sort of experiment has been done quite a lot already - Zola, like most tortoises, likes bright red !
Angie
 

zolasmum

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That's awesome thank you I can't believe how the color changes so much. I also can't believe the personality they have mine runs to my hand when I put it in her tub they are so cute! I'm glad you fixed your up after an accident I can't really see the damage but glad you got him!!!
I am sure you will find yours very rewarding too. The more attention you can give him, the more both of you will enjoy the relationship. Luckily, I and my husband are retired so have lots of time for him. There are lots of people on this forum who can give you good advice on his care - when we got Zola 20 years ago, there wasn't much help anywhere at all. So we followed Zola's lead in a way, and it worked out well in the end.
Angie
 

zolasmum

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Sapphire likes blue the best.?
That's very interesting - is that because of his name, do you think? What shade of blue is his favourite, would you say? Zola likes most reds - the brighter the better - but not pink so much. I always assumed the liking was connected with food - does Sapphire like blue food ? There isn't so much food that is blue, apart from berries , is there, so maybe that's not the case. What do you think ?
Angie
 

Cathie G

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They really can't hear??? Aw shucks. I have been talking to mine for a lot of years. Heck. They CAN hear. Right?
I would keep talking anyway ? Maybe they hear in a tortoise way. It seems like Sapphire knows somehow when I walk into his room in the mornings and say good morning. Sound does have sound waves ? I can hear him turning around to come and greet me at the opening of his hidey hut before he sees me.? Even if it's just memory of every day the same it's good for them.
 

mark1

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Does anyone know if they can hear those devices that keep mice away
The high pitched tone ones
We had mice I was afraid to put it on in case my tort could hear it
i believe those are high frequency , even above a dogs hearing ?

The Auditory Sense in Tortoises, using Hermann’s Tor-
toise, Testudo hermanni (Gmelin, 1789),

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265379185_The_Auditory_Sense_in_Tortoises_using_Hermann's_Tortoise_Testudo_hermanni_Gmelin_1789_as_an_Example#read


"There are a great number of studies on the
auditory nerves of chelonians"
"It should be clear by now that chelonians
have by all means a well-developed sense
of hearing"
 

zolasmum

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I would keep talking anyway ? Maybe they hear in a tortoise way. It seems like Sapphire knows somehow when I walk into his room in the mornings and say good morning. Sound does have sound waves ? I can hear him turning around to come and greet me at the opening of his hidey hut before he sees me.? Even if it's just memory of every day the same it's good for them.
I am quite sure Zola hears and distinguishes between my voice and my husband's - maybe not like a human, but he is aware of which of us it is by the way he reacts. And sometimes I read Zola poetry, while he is sitting on my lap, and he seems to enjoy it. It is often the tone of voice which has most meaning, I think
Angie
 

Cathie G

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That's very interesting - is that because of his name, do you think? What shade of blue is his favourite, would you say? Zola likes most reds - the brighter the better - but not pink so much. I always assumed the liking was connected with food - does Sapphire like blue food ? There isn't so much food that is blue, apart from berries , is there, so maybe that's not the case. What do you think ?
Angie
He won't eat store bought strawberries but he will eat the little wild ones. So red doesn't seem to be a deciding factor. He's very picky with everything he eats. He sniffs it first. One day he decided to eat a dandelion stem and I was watching. I figured he'd quit but he ate the whole thing poof ball and all. The only thing that wasn't food that I've seen him try to eat was a sapphire blue ? piece of yarn that I threw out for the birds. I cut up my scraps and throw it out for the birds and he eyeballed a piece and went straight to it. I was really surprised when he tried to eat it but of course I was there and it didn't happen but...he didn't sniff it first he just went straight for it. That's the only thing I've ever seen him try to eat before sniffing it except me ?
 

MarginatedMooney

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On several occasions, I've walked up to Phil and he wasn't paying any attention to me until I said something to him. After I say something, he'll often look up at me. I'm convinced he can hear my voice.

We've also played music for him before and he seems to respond to it. Sometimes he'll stop what he's doing and look at the direction of the music. So I do think they can hear music, even if it's just the deeper tones they hear. Got to jack up that bass lol.
 
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Cathie G

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That's very interesting - is that because of his name, do you think? What shade of blue is his favourite, would you say? Zola likes most reds - the brighter the better - but not pink so much. I always assumed the liking was connected with food - does Sapphire like blue food ? There isn't so much food that is blue, apart from berries , is there, so maybe that's not the case. What do you think ?
Angie
Well... this became even a little more interesting because I may be able to find another new leafy green to entice Sapphire. Kale can be purple why not blue. Or others.
 

Jan A

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My tortoise is a russian tortoise named Albert who I just got recently. My school I heard has a science fair and my idea for it was to find out what type of music Albert likes. I am going to use a small Bluetooth speaker. How would I gage if he likes a certain type or not? I'm going to make sure it's not loud and there won't be any stressful music like heavy metal. I'm planning on trying pop, disco, AC/DC, reggae, classical, and nature sounds.
Somewhere on YouTube is a red foot tort listening to music, kind of dancing & quacking to the music. It's very funny but the tort is responding. That might be a good place to start. I think there was a link here on TF, as I don't spend any time at all on YouTube unless it's linked somewhere. Good luck on the project!!
 
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