Introducing Speedy, the hyperactive tort!

[TheSnidr]

Ello! New guy here.
I live in Norway, and for the last twelve years I've spent my time together with my testudo hermanni, Speedy. He is almost thirteen.
I sometimes meet other people who have/have had a tortoise, but nobody believe me when I tell them my tortoise is running after me.
Yes, running.
He has always done it, so I only assumed they all do.

I filmed him yesterday, when he got some kind of hyperactive outburst.
His legs are moving so fast, he only has contact with the floor half the time.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Gunthermaker?feature=mhw5

Is this normal?

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum

Thats perfectly normal for a male tortoise.

Danny

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi "TheSnider":

to the forum!!

May we know your real name?

 

[Stephanie Logan]

That is so cool!

He looks almost like a spider scampering across the floor.

The poor dog looks clearly exasperated by the harassment...totally funny.

Speedy is a fitting name for your little guy.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Welcome to the forum...I love your wood floors and I'm thinking that everyone who comes in must take off their shoes? Speedy's jaw is growing wrong and I might suggest either you dremmel it or have your Vet file it down some. I imagine he must be having trouble eating???

 

[terryo]

That was a great show Speedy put on. I was also thinking his beak was over grown and should be filed down. He is a beautiful tortoise....AND Welcome to the forum.

 

[TortoisesRock!]

Wow what a fast tortoise! He definitely seems friendly! Welcome to the forum!

 

[TheSnidr]

Thanks for nice replies!
Well, even though you say it's normal, he'll always be my special friend

His mouth used to be really bad, but we got a vet to file it down three years ago. Before that he had big trouble eating - I had to handfeed him most of the time.
After we filed it down, he could finally eat without help again.
His lower jaw is still growing faster than his upper jaw though, so we'll have to do it again soon. He currently has no problems eating.

I filmed this while relaxing at our hut by the ocean with my father, brother, dog and tortoise.

 

[TheSnidr]

Oh, and to answer emysemys' question, my name is Sindre. My nickname is some kind of pun on my name

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Well, he's a great little tortoise and I am glad you have joined our forum...

 

[Tom]

That's not normal! I've seen some fast tortoises before, but that little guy has some sort of TURBO boost with the legs flailing all over the place like that. Its very cool, though. I'd love to see him do that somewhere where he could get some traction. I'd also love to learn more about the lower beak problem. Please keep us updated on that. I recently came across a big sulcata with that problem, so any insight into why it happens, what to do about it, or how to prevent it, would be great.

 

[Weloveourtortoise]

Speedy is great to watch!!! Thank you for sharing!!!! Welcome to the forum!!

 

[Animalia]

I loved the video. He was just so keen to be with those socked feet. I also like how Speedy comes up behind the dog and the dog turns around like, "what?" and then thinks, "oh, it's just that darn tortoise..."

I have one dog that can be in the same room as mine, (with supervision) but I don't trust any of the others for a second. My oldest dog has a pretty high prey drive and I think she would use Tulip as a chew toy.

I hope Tulip decides I am interesting enough to come running to when we've had a chance to bond.

 

[goodsmeagol]

Do you have a piece of weeds on your foot or something!?
That thing is moving like my Three Toe after a pinky!

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

Wow! And who ever said tortoises are slow?....Lol

 

[GBtortoises]

Your tortoise is showing misplaced courtship urges that are often typical of male Hermann's once they become sexually mature and there is no female available. They will chance anything that moves (literally) and often become fixated on a certain object, like your foot or a foot. Someone once sent me a photo of their male Hermann's trying to breed a stuffed animal and a large rock! They normally find potential mates by scent and sight. But if they've never smelled or seen one before they don't have as much information to go by and can easily be confused.

Call it "blind lust"!

 

[Cameron]

that is hilarious! he's on a mission!