Do tortoises mourn their owners death?

FavoriteTortoise

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Very morbid I know but I've realized my baby tortoise will most likely outlive me, and it makes me wonder... will he miss me?
 

Lokkje

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Sadly no. They will only miss you if they don’t get food and water and proper care. When my mother passed away she had doted on all the desert tortoises and they virtually showed no interest other than gathering where she used to throw them food and when I started flinging food they were perfectly content.
 

qiangzhu

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Very morbid I know but I've realized my baby tortoise will most likely outlive me, and it makes me wonder... will he miss me?
my tortoise definetly knows me. Especially when I grab the food bowl, no matter what they are doing a that time (walk, sleep), they will walk to the place I usually put the food and wait there. But I think my presence only means food's coming to them and they don't know who I am actually
 

iAmCentrochelys sulcata

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my tortoise definetly knows me. Especially when I grab the food bowl, no matter what they are doing a that time (walk, sleep), they will walk to the place I usually put the food and wait there. But I think my presence only means food's coming to them and they don't know who I am actually
So No. lol
 

Blackdog1714

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My chickens no the difference between me and my wife- She is bringer of food and I am the great kidnapper. Although they forget what I am when I grab the mealworm bag. I think my torts would miss the easy meal before me!
 

VJRDuran

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My daughter has only had her tortoise a couple of months, but when she and I were gone for three weeks, Scooter pouted the entire time we were gone. My husband provided food, care, soaks, interaction, everything a Russian would need for a happy, fulfilling life. When my daughter and I returned home, Scooter was so happy to see us. He "ran" the entire length of his enclosure, in and out of his hides, up onto his basking spot and over the decorations before we picked him up and cuddled him. Within minutes he had eaten food that my husband had put out and did his other business that he had been refusing to do most of the time we were gone.
We later found out that in the nearly three years prior to us getting Scooter, his breeder and her daughter had been the only ones to handle him and the other tortoises; he had had very little human male interaction.
 

qiangzhu

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My daughter has only had her tortoise a couple of months, but when she and I were gone for three weeks, Scooter pouted the entire time we were gone. My husband provided food, care, soaks, interaction, everything a Russian would need for a happy, fulfilling life. When my daughter and I returned home, Scooter was so happy to see us. He "ran" the entire length of his enclosure, in and out of his hides, up onto his basking spot and over the decorations before we picked him up and cuddled him. Within minutes he had eaten food that my husband had put out and did his other business that he had been refusing to do most of the time we were gone.
We later found out that in the nearly three years prior to us getting Scooter, his breeder and her daughter had been the only ones to handle him and the other tortoises; he had had very little human male interaction.
Per my experience, the tortoise, as a reptile, of course is not as smart as mammals like cat, dog or monkey. But if you continues to interact with them day by day like cleaning their enclosure, feeding them or even play with them (which is not encouraged by some articles), it can train their brain and strength their memory to recognize you. And they will show some different behaviors when they see you from when they see other people.

But I don't think they will have high level feelings like mourning their owner's death
 

Butterfly

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I personally believe that to an extant, they would. I think this because I've noticed that sometimes when I'm just doing random stuff I'll catch my tortoise staring at me and I know its not for food because they always have a large pile of food in his enclosure and their water bowl is always full. I think It would kind of be like if you get used to seeing someone everyday and all of a sudden you never see them again, whether you like them or not (even though I know my tortoises love me), you would miss them. At least, that's what I think.
 

shellcior

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I'm Tank's Food ATM. I WANT to believe he likes me, but reality tells me he LIKES what I bring him. lolol.
 

mark1

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my opinion is , when people mourn a loss , it's not about feeling sorry for the departed , it's feeling sorry for those left behind , feeling sorry for yourself ....... wild things don't feel sorry for themselves .......
 

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