personality?

[kelii]

Hi
About 2 years ago I got my first reptilian pet, a bearded dragon, and absolutely fell in love with them. A few months later I added a leopard gecko to the family. Lately I've been considering getting a pet tortoise. I've been doing some research and have narrowed my choices down to a Russian, Greek, or hermann's. I would love a leopard, but I live in an apartment and have no outdoor space, not even a patio. My question is, what's it like owning a tortoise? I've never been around them except at the pet store. Are they interactive at all or do they ignore you? I'm looking for something that's curious, and fun to let crawl around the living room.
Thanks!

 

[leigti]

I have only personally been around my Russian tortoise and Boxturtle. But each of them are interactive, they sort of come when I call them if I have food in my hand there are varying opinions on whether you should let them roam around your house however. I think it would be better to have outdoor space, if even for just a little while.I have an indoor and outdoor enclosures for them each and one of the hardest parts to get right is the lighting, UV requirements etc.no matter what we humans do we just can't simulate the sun. I feel bad that my animals have to be inside for the winter. Both of these two species can hibernate, but I have not done that yet because I don't feel comfortable about it, maybe in the future. these are the first to reptiles I have ever had, never been interested in any others and I really enjoy them. My friends don't understand it but that's okay. The care for the three that you listed are all pretty similar.if there is a chance that you will be moving somewhere where you do have some access to outdoors may be put off getting a tortoise until then.it can be done indoors, it's just more difficult, especially full-time year-round.

 

[lismar79]

Agree with the above. Just to add, each person has their own pref, but nothing beats the russian torts spunk. The have huge personalities!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

If you want interaction either get a cat or a Sulcata...Move to a BIG house....just funnin

 

[lismar79]

Agree with that too. I have one sully, 4 cats....never a dull moment

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Crawling around the living room is not truly appropriate for tortoises.

I've had box turtles for over 38 years and tortoises for a while. My boxies will eat slugs off a spoon- but really I don't think of any of them interactive.

I love to hear the tortoises chomping. Is watching them interaction? Some people will tell you that their tortoises interact with them, come running for food. While this happens, if you get a wild animal such as a tortoise and expect interaction, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Get one because you adore them and are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them healthy. Don't get one if you want interaction.

 

[kelii]

Thanks for the reptile guys! By interaction, I mean that it will look at you and knows you're alive, like my bearded dragon. Don't worry, I'm not expecting games of fetch. I do plan to get a house one day and I would love to have a huge enclosure in the yard. For now, we have grassy areas where I take the tortoise for some outside time.

 

[leigti]

Is there anybody in your community who owns tortoises? Maybe you could spend a little time with them just to give an extremely basic idea of what it is like. Russian tortoises are pretty common. But don't judge by how they look in a pet store, most of the time that will probably not be "normal" behavior.

 

[Magilla504]

I do periodically touch my torts to check and bath them. I can hand feed them for my own enjoyment but this takes trust and time. I will touch their shell or rub their necks but I like to think of them as exotic pets. It's great to raise, observe them and help them thrive. They are not
domesticated animals like a dog or cat. It's hard to remember this since they are so cute!

 

[puffy137]

I find watching my tortoises interactions with each other fascinating. There are 2 'courting' pairs, where the males only give attention to their own special mates I wonder if other people have observed this? I think one day I shall fix up a video camera on their enclosure cos I think many other people would enjoy watching them .They all have their names on their shells so it would be easy to determine whose who!

 

[puffy137]

Here are my torts

 

[zenoandthetortoise]

Thanks for the reptile guys! By interaction, I mean that it will look at you and knows you're alive, like my bearded dragon. Don't worry, I'm not expecting games of fetch. I do plan to get a house one day and I would love to have a huge enclosure in the yard. For now, we have grassy areas where I take the tortoise for some outside time.

I think if you're already calibrated to bearded dragons and leopard geckos then you probably already have realistic expectations, although I would rate torts higher than either of those.

 

[Delilah1623]

My russian tortoise hates me.... lol. He hides whenever I'm around and won't eat if I'm watching.

My redfoot has only been here a week and always comes out to see what I am doing and will eat out of my hand.

That said, I think it has a lot more to do with my russian being wild caught as a mature adult (vet estimates him to be about 13) and my redfoot being captive bred (just a baby). I hope more experienced people will chime in but I would highly recommend going with a captive bred of whichever species you decide on. Although I love my grumpy little russian and am committed to caring for him for life and any future tortoises will also be captive bred.

 

[leigti]

I would think that captive bred tortoises are more "interactive" and less shy than wild caught. But tortoises are still individuals just like people, some are shy summer outgoing. My wild caught Russian warmed up to me relatively quickly.but some don't. I know somebody that has a captive bred Russian tortoise that is not nearly as outgoing and fearless as mine is. You can work on getting a shy tortoise to be a little less shy but there's no guarantees.