I just adopted a 5 year old female that is very shy... instead of her turtle house she hides under vines in the backyard and only walks around a couple times a day for a quick bite then back into hiding... I have been trying to associate myself with food and I still have to go pick her up from under the vines in order to do so.. I have had her for a month.. any best practices?
Shy Tortoise
- Thread starter Langheezy
- Start date
Hello and welcome! How long have you had her now? It usually takes a little while for a tortoise to get used to its new home but she will come around when she's ready, just stay consistent with her! And remember they're not the most social creatures but she will get used to you and her new home!
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Have you tried to handfeed her special yummy treats ?
Torts are slow. Not only in moving, also in learning, and they are different. Male sulcata tortoises are less shy than females.
Give her time to learn that you are not a predator or a monster.
Do you know how she was kept before you get her ? Was she shy in her old home too ?
Gived her time.
I would place myself sitting in her yard and holding her treats in my hands and wait.... I would do this as often as I can.
I think time and food is the only way to get her trust in you..
Yes, but have in mind that it`ll be a long plan ..... Torts are stubborn.
Good luck.
By the way, can we have some pics of her ? We are always curious in tort pics.
Thank you for the pics !
She is a beauty and she looks very healthy. What a pitty that she is so shy.
She may not like being picked up. You may not know what her life was like before you got her. Maybe there were scary things! It could take awhile to overcome her fear.
I approach my tortoise from the front so he sees me. I usually come bearing "gifts," like a rose or hibiscus branch. If I want to move my tortoise, I wave the branch in front of him and then move it to where I want him to go, and he usually follows it. That would be a good way to get her out from under the vines. After awhile, when my tortoise has learned to associate me with treats, I start rubbing his neck and patting him on the head while he eats his treats. If it is hot, I'll sprinkle him with water, and often I'm rewarded with a dance.
I approach my tortoise from the front so he sees me. I usually come bearing "gifts," like a rose or hibiscus branch. If I want to move my tortoise, I wave the branch in front of him and then move it to where I want him to go, and he usually follows it. That would be a good way to get her out from under the vines. After awhile, when my tortoise has learned to associate me with treats, I start rubbing his neck and patting him on the head while he eats his treats. If it is hot, I'll sprinkle him with water, and often I'm rewarded with a dance.
@Langheezy Just think how different accents in English are hard for us to understand. If she knows past owners special words, she may not understand your words at all....it's a scary and isolated feeling. I got Alice at 5 years old and have had her for 2 and half now. I don't know what words she know and I know the food she got when she came to me was foreign. Now she knows "breakfast", for every meal being served She knows, "wake up", "good morning", "go outside", "come here", "water". She also knows new sounds like the sound of packaging, her door opening and closing. She tells me when she is hungry by pacing around the food tray. She knows when I go to bed and when I get up in the middle of the night. She lets me know that she is not happy with me at that time...
Just give your new friend some time and communicate on a regularly with her. You may think she doesn't get what you are saying but repeat it often and she will learn what you are talking about. She will get used to all the new sounds and noises in her new home. Just try to keep them regular...that's how they learn.
My Alice even tells me that I fed her something she does not like...and she will not eat it... Now she misses me when I am running around for a few days and she doesn't hear or see me much. When I appear, she comes eagerly to great me. We are not "touchy feeley snuggley" but we are very close now in other ways. She also knows when I am not happy with her.
I give most animals more credit than most people do...The people are not too smart...
Just give your new friend some time and communicate on a regularly with her. You may think she doesn't get what you are saying but repeat it often and she will learn what you are talking about. She will get used to all the new sounds and noises in her new home. Just try to keep them regular...that's how they learn.
My Alice even tells me that I fed her something she does not like...and she will not eat it... Now she misses me when I am running around for a few days and she doesn't hear or see me much. When I appear, she comes eagerly to great me. We are not "touchy feeley snuggley" but we are very close now in other ways. She also knows when I am not happy with her.
I give most animals more credit than most people do...The people are not too smart...
