Are sulcatas capable of personality?

jomac

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
5
`
So my child is playing with one of those hollow "ball-pit" balls in the sprinkler yesterday, when it caught Hanks eye from across the yard. I watched as he chased my son away, turned back and knocked over the sprinkler, attempted to mount the sprinkler, and then laid with all of his weight on my sons ball and crushed it. He also tries to pick fights with the dogs in both adjacent yards through the fence (head bobbing, pushing the fence, etc)

Are sulcatas even intelligent enough to have a personality, like a dog or a cat? Could this be a symptom of a larger problem that I need to look into (environment, diet?), or is it possible that Hank's just kind of a jerk?
 

mike taylor

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
13,461
I think your tortoise is territorial and protecting his area.
 
M

Maggie Cummings

Guest

bouaboua

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
11,809
Location (City and/or State)
San Jose CA
OMG! I am so laughing here!!! I can't believe you gave him that link. You made my day!
jomac...do a search here on Bob, that will show you personality. I could (and have) gone on and on about him. He has been in the news paper 4 times in 2 different cities and on TV news twice. He is well socialized and has a personality bigger then he is.

I think I did alright today. Made another lady her day...:)
 

jomac

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
5
Lol! Ok Bob's a jerk, I think Hanks just territorial. I may need to divide off my yard to give him his own territory.
Five years ago I was handed a baby tortoise with just a care sheet. I just assumed they had the intelligence/personality of a frog or a snake.
 

tortadise

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
9,560
Location (City and/or State)
Tropical South Texas
Tortoises are creatures of habit. The "personality" many keepers refer too, is strictly derived from our minds in a comparative assimilation to our)humans) lifestyle and intellect. All they want to do is survive, even though generations of tortoises, especially sulcatas are captive bred. They are still wild animals. They have just adapted to different environmental exposures, like weather, food, and fenced in parameters. When they display actions like this, it tells me, he is being territorial, and establishing that he is dominant of the territory he is provided. They are bulldozers in captivity and in the wild. So sad to sad they do not have personality. They are just living the way they always have. In a different environment(backyard etc...) and this translates to us (intelligent species) to an odd "personality" because all we have to compare it too, is typical companions like dogs or cats.

Hope that helped.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I think they do have personalities. What Kelly said above is all correct, but each tortoise displays the traits he mentioned in differing ways and to varying degrees. Some of them are much more active and nosey. Some of them are much more combative or docile. Some of them display higher food drive and more "begging". I consider these differences "personality".
 
M

Maggie Cummings

Guest
I respectfully disagree with Kelly on a couple of levels. Mostly I do agree but here's my rebuttal...
My sister has been involved in turtle and tortoise rescue for over 35 years. She has cared for and rehabbed hundreds of chelonia. She has her own herd of exotic torts, Burmese, Aldabrans and others. She absolutely believes they are wild animals, and they are treated as such. Her tortoises are giant rocks. Her Sulcata, Dudley, is as big or bigger then Bob and 5 years older, he is wary of strangers and but easy keeper. Bob would be thru/over Dudleys small fence in less then 5 minutes, yet it holds Dudley. Bob is 16 yrs old and I have had him since he was 5. In Calif he lived in a habitat in the house and cared for that way. I broke all the rules, the cat slept with him, he walked around the house, etc. I did things with him that I tell newbies are not good for tortoises, but that was the start of my education with torts. I moved to Oregon 8 years ago today. Bob was set up the way a tortoise is supposed to be, outside with a heated, insulated shed. I took him and other chelonia around to schools so kids could learn about them. Every school in Corvallis. Soon Bob was being hired by different organizations to attract crowds to their events. Senior Dog Rescue is one, then people were talked into adopting an old dog. Petco and SDR hired Bob at Christmas, have your photo taken with Bob and Santa for $5 to help fund SDR. That went on for 6 years. He has been to other events at Petco. Oregon State University has Pet Days every year and Bob was hired to walk around to attract and entertain crowds. He follows my wiggling fingers anywhere.The point of all this telling, is that Bob was socialized much more than most tortoises. I spend time with him everyday. Talking to him, playing with him, and laughing a lot. He likes to sit on my legs and sniff my face. I'm thinkin that at 150 pounds that practice is about to come to a screeching halt. He does that and looks deep into my eyes like trying to communicate something. There is no doubt in my mind that I have a tendency to anthropomorphize him. I have been pretty sick lately and I like to go into his warm shed, sit on the floor and he will always put his head on my leg, close his eyes and nap. I most often nap too. My point is that inside myself I know that tortoises are indeed wild undomesticated animals, but I believe in my heart of hearts that training and socialization changes some that. It brings out a personality that is hiding inside them. I have other tortoises that I love, but they each have their own small personalities and are mostly rocks I feed. Right now I feel that Bob, because of his socialization and training, is a Sulcata of a different color. Go ahead and call me crazy, I know I can be, but strangers come to see Bob, he is well known in Corvallis, and he puts on a show for them. He has a certain charisma that other tortoises don't have. He, at times, is a pain in my a** but most of the time he's funny and sweet and I am so glad he's living in my yard. He even, 2 years ago, got my Homeowners insurance canceled, but that's a whole nuther story. Just my opinion...
 

Neal

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
4,967
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
Tortoises are creatures of habit. The "personality" many keepers refer too, is strictly derived from our minds in a comparative assimilation to our)humans) lifestyle and intellect. All they want to do is survive, even though generations of tortoises, especially sulcatas are captive bred. They are still wild animals. They have just adapted to different environmental exposures, like weather, food, and fenced in parameters. When they display actions like this, it tells me, he is being territorial, and establishing that he is dominant of the territory he is provided. They are bulldozers in captivity and in the wild. So sad to sad they do not have personality. They are just living the way they always have. In a different environment(backyard etc...) and this translates to us (intelligent species) to an odd "personality" because all we have to compare it too, is typical companions like dogs or cats.

Hope that helped.

Very well stated Kelly. Most are aware of the exhaustive discussions we've had on the topic, but the take away from those discussions for me is that at the end of the day, it is all derived from our minds and what appeals to one may not to another.
 

New Posts

Top