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emysemys said:
I find this very surprising. Did they stop trying to eat you once they realised you aren't made of food?
Does a tortoise recognize its owner?
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I find this very surprising. Did they stop trying to eat you once they realised you aren't made of food?
I've only had Regina, my Russian, for a few weeks, actually a month today! She knows that i bring her food. I like to think that she recognizes me. Every time she sees me she tries to get through the glass to get to me, i like to think. Or is she really just hoping for more Lettuce? haha! How long does it take a Tortoise to warm up to you? I try to talk to her and interact with her everyday. I want her to get to like me! Since we are going to be stuck together for a loooooong time hahahahaha.
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I'm not sure if Ned recognizes me, but he does keep making a bee line for me when I find him in the garden. He tries to nibble my toes. Not sure whether to think it is darn cute, or to reconsider my personal hygiene. I'm going with darn cute
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When I was new to the hobby unused to keep a Russian in a 60 gal aquarium.... Every morning it would walk to the side closest to my bed and wait for me to wake up. When I woke up it immediately walked to its slate rock awaiting me to feed it. Whenever anyone else slept in my bed it would walk around aimlessly until it saw me come in and wait at its rock for food. This makes me believe they do remember their owners. Now my Russian is outdoors and rather happy btw!!
yes of course they do
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I think they can!
Cathie raise WalkingRock from post hatching. He spent his 1st 5 years in a Montessori classroom with a steady rotation of children.
Even with all this stimulation and differant "Food-God/Goddesses" (in a Montessori class, every child is assigned the duty of feeding on a rotating basis). Even with all this, Cathie is the one he calls Mama.
Since we have been together, I have been the primary care taker in aspects of feeding and housing. He recognises me and conciders me "friendly" at best (after 6 years). Cathie on the other hand can just open the backdoor and call his name and he comes running.
I think they can hear but not well and some sounds they know/recognize better than others. I have to wave a piece of broccali in his face to get him to follow me, all Cathie has to do is talk to him and he follows.
Even with all this stimulation and differant "Food-God/Goddesses" (in a Montessori class, every child is assigned the duty of feeding on a rotating basis). Even with all this, Cathie is the one he calls Mama.
Since we have been together, I have been the primary care taker in aspects of feeding and housing. He recognises me and conciders me "friendly" at best (after 6 years). Cathie on the other hand can just open the backdoor and call his name and he comes running.
I think they can hear but not well and some sounds they know/recognize better than others. I have to wave a piece of broccali in his face to get him to follow me, all Cathie has to do is talk to him and he follows.
kinda different, but most of the time my water turts come right up to the glass when i walk in the room or go up to the tank, so id say yea
Yes, mine do, and work torts seem to know me too. I think it is how I interact with them, so have wondered if it is just learning mannerisms or demeanor(we all wear the same uniform), so tried having ppl act like me, but even when ppl mimic my movements, the torts still respond differently to. So, i say yes they get to 'know' and remember you.
I think Ted recognizes people, not individuals, he stays in our room most of the time, and when either me or james walks in he perks up and walks around looking at us trying to get out of his enclosure, but i dont think they know us by faces, but by who feeds them rofl
What I want to know....is how do you take a toert for a walk around the block!?!
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ijmccollum said:
Very Slowly. (j/k IDK)
since i am the only person to feed them and care for them, id say yes . if my husband or a friend go near my cakes they head for the hide. when they see me they come a running , what you got for us.'lol' they seem pretty smart with good eye sight.
my pancakes in summer time follow me up and down our dead end street. one day the mailman said what did the little guy get flatted? I couldnt stop laughing. he now knows the torts. and looks forward to seeing them on their walk/ run.
ijmccollum said:
my pancakes in summer time follow me up and down our dead end street. one day the mailman said what did the little guy get flatted? I couldnt stop laughing. he now knows the torts. and looks forward to seeing them on their walk/ run.
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I have only had Babette and Scarlet a few days but they are already learning to recognize me. Today Babette was frantically clawing at a corner in her burrow where the tinky tiniest but of light showed through, for like 15 minutes straight. I was worried she was going to hurt herself and the sound was starting to drive me nuts. I talked to her just like I do our furry family members. She got a "Babette, PLEASE" she stopped. The stopping didn't last but five minutes though lol. I had to get a rock to block the light until my hubby got home to fix the light rays with a bracket on the outside of the table.
Scarlet is a bit shy at first. When I pick her up she goes inside about half the time. I tell her several times that she is a pretty girl and she pops right back out and bobs her head.
Scarlet is a bit shy at first. When I pick her up she goes inside about half the time. I tell her several times that she is a pretty girl and she pops right back out and bobs her head.
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ijmccollum said:
First of all, you don't plan to get in a hurry!
I think they can. I am the primary tortoise caretaker in our house, and it seems like our Russians are more responsive to me. When I sit by their pens, they come up to me, apparently interested in being either fed or taken out. But if my wife sits beside them, they don't seem to respond as much, and I think it's because they don't associate her with food or exercise.
I believe they do also. Mine definitely know me versus my sons or other people. If they see me in the yard they will come towards me, but if anyone else is there, they will go hide. I also believe they hear us. I can sneak up quietly on mine while sleeping and call them and they will wake up and look around. They are smart animals, but just like people I think there are smarter torts and some not so smart.
I have seen quoted a german paper on tortoise hearing, they were having a range from 100-1000 Hertz. I saw no information in the quotation regarding which species. I try to speak to mine in a deep and clear voice. I think if we stimulate them and treat them lovingly, we get it back. A friend of mine once had to treat a new tortoise (marginata) for a neck injury. He says he is not quite forgiven after 15 years.
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