Prairie Mom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2014
- Messages
- 4,339
There are lots of things I enjoy about this forum, but alright, I'll admit it...
One of my very favorite things is to see photos of members showing affection for their tortoise and observing the relaxed tortoises appear to appreciate this hands-on attention.
A few photos that come to mind are @ALDABRAMAN 's photos of his wife and large aldabras obviously enjoying their neck rubs, and @Elohi 's young tortoises snuggling up on her shoulders. I've been known to pull my whole family to the computer to check out photos that we all "melt" over.
Being inspired by other forum members, I tried to capture a few of these moments. (Occasionally, she thought the camera was weird, but you get the idea )
Does your tortoise appear to like being petted?
Have any photos?
_______________________________________________________________________________
Our newer young sulcata "Mavis" started out so nervous and shy. Recently, the contrast has been amazing. She now toddles to my hands for her morning soak and has begun to lay down and SPRAWL when I'm rubbing her. -It's so cute to see her (guessing female) when she's really comfortable, sprawling her legs and relaxing her head as I pet her. She looks just as relaxed as she does in her beloved warm soaks. I can only guess I must be doing something right!
We call this "the head pinch." Please know that everything we do is soft and slow and she can easily withdraw any time. When we first got her, we were lucky to rub her forehead. Then she began to relax and I noticed she seemed to like to rest her chin on my thumb as I rubbed her head.
I love that little face so much! She was a little nervous of the camera during our photo shoot, but eventually she didn't care and relaxed herself as she typically does. She's become so used to my hands that she allows me to remove substrate or dirt that occasionally gets in the corners of her eyes if she's been digging a lot.
Chin scratches are good. I once read on a website that they'll only let you rub their neck and chin once they have begun to trust you. -YAY!
Sometimes she seems to direct me to where she wants the rub or light scratch and will be still and lightly push against the area where I'm working on her.
Here she decided to lay the FULL weight of her head on the soft spot between my thumb and forefinger. I'll be her pillow ANY TIME!
Deep neck rubs --I like those too, Mavis
It makes me feel good, like we must be a decent caregiver if she feels so safe here that she is willing to expose her full neck.
Well, there ya go! I once tried to film her during a love fest, but then she POOPED on me. I didn't notice one grassy feces nob fall to the floor and proceeded to step on it and track it all the way to her enclosure---nothing but grace and elegance from me, baby!!! PURE GRACE!
One of my very favorite things is to see photos of members showing affection for their tortoise and observing the relaxed tortoises appear to appreciate this hands-on attention.
A few photos that come to mind are @ALDABRAMAN 's photos of his wife and large aldabras obviously enjoying their neck rubs, and @Elohi 's young tortoises snuggling up on her shoulders. I've been known to pull my whole family to the computer to check out photos that we all "melt" over.
Being inspired by other forum members, I tried to capture a few of these moments. (Occasionally, she thought the camera was weird, but you get the idea )
Does your tortoise appear to like being petted?
Have any photos?
_______________________________________________________________________________
Our newer young sulcata "Mavis" started out so nervous and shy. Recently, the contrast has been amazing. She now toddles to my hands for her morning soak and has begun to lay down and SPRAWL when I'm rubbing her. -It's so cute to see her (guessing female) when she's really comfortable, sprawling her legs and relaxing her head as I pet her. She looks just as relaxed as she does in her beloved warm soaks. I can only guess I must be doing something right!
We call this "the head pinch." Please know that everything we do is soft and slow and she can easily withdraw any time. When we first got her, we were lucky to rub her forehead. Then she began to relax and I noticed she seemed to like to rest her chin on my thumb as I rubbed her head.
I love that little face so much! She was a little nervous of the camera during our photo shoot, but eventually she didn't care and relaxed herself as she typically does. She's become so used to my hands that she allows me to remove substrate or dirt that occasionally gets in the corners of her eyes if she's been digging a lot.
Chin scratches are good. I once read on a website that they'll only let you rub their neck and chin once they have begun to trust you. -YAY!
Sometimes she seems to direct me to where she wants the rub or light scratch and will be still and lightly push against the area where I'm working on her.
Here she decided to lay the FULL weight of her head on the soft spot between my thumb and forefinger. I'll be her pillow ANY TIME!
Deep neck rubs --I like those too, Mavis
It makes me feel good, like we must be a decent caregiver if she feels so safe here that she is willing to expose her full neck.Well, there ya go! I once tried to film her during a love fest, but then she POOPED on me.
I didn't notice one grassy feces nob fall to the floor and proceeded to step on it and track it all the way to her enclosure---nothing but grace and elegance from me, baby!!! PURE GRACE!
