tortoise recognize their name?

naturalman91

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so one of my best friends came up to visit from california recently and about 3-4 years ago i gave him both of my russian's and they are doing great and everything but he swears the recognize there name being called is this even possible? i think he may not notice but the torts see him and come looking for food this is in a outdoor enclosure by the way any thoughts? i'd love to hear your responses :tort::tort:
 

tortgirl123

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tortoise recognize there name?

I don't know about recognizing their name but I do know that they can recognize you.
Maybe others will know
 

kimber_lee_314

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

Mine come tearing out of their hides when they hear me talking - not because they know their names though. They know they get food when they hear "that lady's" voice!!! I like to pretend they love me - but sadly, I'm just the food source. :)
 

naturalman91

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

lol the russian's i'm talking about are little garbage disposals anyway so i'm pretty sure they just hear talking or seem him and think FOOD! CHASE HIM!
 

guille24

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tortoise recognize there name?

One of my red foots used too but now he doesn't care anymore :/
 

naturalman91

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

guille24 said:
One of my red foots used too but now he doesn't care anymore :/

lol maybe he got tired of hearing his own name? lol i've only ever had russians so thats the only one i can speak for i'm currently in the process of getting a redfoot which i will get tuesday i've heard red foots are really smart tho
 

Saleama

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

Regardless of whether or not they recognize their own name, I know their names and will always talk to them using it, lol. It is fun to pretend and it hurts nobody but yeah, I'm pretty sure they only know the tone and the hand filled with food. Mine will run around and do different things though so I know they react differently to the same things. For instance, when I come to say hello and feed them, two of my sulcatas run around excited, one of them plants his big ole butt right in the middle of the feeding rock and the other two walk to the water bowl and wait patiently for me to put the food down.
 

kimber_lee_314

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

Saleama said:
Regardless of whether or not they recognize their own name, I know their names and will always talk to them using it, lol. It is fun to pretend and it hurts nobody but yeah, I'm pretty sure they only know the tone and the hand filled with food. Mine will run around and do different things though so I know they react differently to the same things. For instance, when I come to say hello and feed them, two of my sulcatas run around excited, one of them plants his big ole butt right in the middle of the feeding rock and the other two walk to the water bowl and wait patiently for me to put the food down.

That's cute! My box turtles do that too. I usually put their food down and then turn on the sprinklers for a few minutes to wake them up. Now every time I turn on their sprinklers, they come to the paver and wait patiently - looking up in anticipation. (Mine all have names too - my friends and family think I'm crazy!)
 

Elohi

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tortoise recognize there name?

I know my Leo's don't know their name but they definitely know me, my voice, my presence. They will pace or sit in the food dish if they hear me. And when I take the dish out to fill it, they will sit in the "bowl hole" as I call it. Right. In. The. Way. It never fails. I always have to move a tort or two, just to put the dish back in. And I have to move them far enough away to give me time to get it into the hole, because they tortle back to the hole as fast as they can in anticipation of their food. Lol.


Elohi(Earth)[TURTLE]
 

naturalman91

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

Elohi said:
I know my Leo's don't know their name but they definitely know me, my voice, my presence. They will pace or sit in the food dish if they hear me. And when I take the dish out to fill it, they will sit in the "bowl hole" as I call it. Right. In. The. Way. It never fails. I always have to move a tort or two, just to put the dish back in. And I have to move them far enough away to give me time to get it into the hole, because they tortle back to the hole as fast as they can in anticipation of their food. Lol.


Elohi🌎(Earth)[TURTLE]


my russians did the exact same thing i always had to move both of them to the far end to give me enough time to get the dish in they'd sprint back and if my hand was still there they'd stay about a inch away and just open there mouth and start biting air like hey move we 're hungry here! lol
 

AnnV

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Re: RE: tortoise recognize there name?

bouaboua said:
My wife say so.

My wife always right.

So: YES :p:p

LOL
Smart man.... :D
 

Mini

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

I had an incredible "one on one" experience with my tort Buddy today. He just kept watching me a lot. I mean, really looked at me face to face. I got on his level and he just studied me all over. I was just inches from his face. I swear he was trying to smell me. He goes into euphoria when I give him neck rubs and shell rubs. He's an 25 year old aldabra, not saying he's smart, but does make me contemplate his IQ.
 

T33's Torts

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

One of my Russians responds to him name.
 

naturalman91

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

Mini said:
I had an incredible "one on one" experience with my tort Buddy today. He just kept watching me a lot. I mean, really looked at me face to face. I got on his level and he just studied me all over. I was just inches from his face. I swear he was trying to smell me. He goes into euphoria when I give him neck rubs and shell rubs. He's an 25 year old aldabra, not saying he's smart, but does make me contemplate his IQ.



that is awesome i don't think torts are dumb at all i think just like people some animals are smart some a lil uh slow lolthat seems like it would be a really intense awesome for the tort to show interest in who and what you are instead of the other way around. aldabra is one of my dream species but they get to big for me i'll just stick to admiring from a far, i've seen a couple sulcata's that friends have that seem truely interested in them and what they are and why they are in the area lol
 

Beks

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RE: tortoise recognize there name?

Mini said:
I had an incredible "one on one" experience with my tort Buddy today. He just kept watching me a lot. I mean, really looked at me face to face. I got on his level and he just studied me all over. I was just inches from his face. I swear he was trying to smell me. He goes into euphoria when I give him neck rubs and shell rubs. He's an 25 year old aldabra, not saying he's smart, but does make me contemplate his IQ.

My boyfriend and our tortoise always touch noses. They seem to have a good bond, she appears to really like him. Me.. She bites if she can, lol. (Maybe I'm tasty)

No matter how much we say her name, she never seems to respond. Or she just doesn't care!
 

Skymall007

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I don't know if Minster knows his name or not but he def. knows me. I also know he loves me in the way that he can. He is a really picky eater no matter what I do, especially in the winter so he doesn't just see me as someone who gives him food. When he was younger, I would take him outside and he would only walk a few feet away from me and then look back. He would keep checking to see where I was. Once he learned his way around, he could care less where I am.

Many people say reptiles don't love. I believe they do, just not in the way that humans do. Love is more than one emotion. It involves trusting someone and feeling safe with someone. I would argue that reptiles learn who to trust and feel safe with. Therefore they do experience love to a certain extent.
 

Yvonne G

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I was talking to my sister, Maggie, on the phone last night. She told me a 'Bob' story:

(Bob is a 110lb or more sulcata living in the frozen north with many stories here on the Forum)

Maggie has been pretty sick for the past month or more, and has had neighbor's coming over to feed, clean, open and close tort door, etc. She felt pretty good yesterday so she went out to Bob's shed to commune with him. She said he was giving her a very intense look, standing quite still, and just looking at her. So she got down on the floor and put her face right in front of him. He kept looking at her for a very long time then he moved forward a bit and was smelling all over her face.

She said she got up before he got any ideas about biting or ramming, but it really didn't look like he was going to do either of those things. I think he was just missing her and was looking to make sure it was her (or looking to be fed).


Most of my tortoises don't have names, so there's nothing to recognize. However, they do see me as food, and come running whenever they see me and try to eat me.
 

naturalman91

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Yvonne G said:
I was talking to my sister, Maggie, on the phone last night. She told me a 'Bob' story:

(Bob is a 110lb or more sulcata living in the frozen north with many stories here on the Forum)

Maggie has been pretty sick for the past month or more, and has had neighbor's coming over to feed, clean, open and close tort door, etc. She felt pretty good yesterday so she went out to Bob's shed to commune with him. She said he was giving her a very intense look, standing quite still, and just looking at her. So she got down on the floor and put her face right in front of him. He kept looking at her for a very long time then he moved forward a bit and was smelling all over her face.

She said she got up before he got any ideas about biting or ramming, but it really didn't look like he was going to do either of those things. I think he was just missing her and was looking to make sure it was her (or looking to be fed).


Most of my tortoises don't have names, so there's nothing to recognize. However, they do see me as food, and come running whenever they see me and try to eat me.



ok that is awesome haha that'd make me have full faith that they atleast recognize us even it is for only food it probably depends a lot on the tort tho and how much the owner really interacts with them personally when i had my russians i never interacted to much i wanted them to feel as if they were in the wild so i dont know that could have something to do with how they acted
 

terryo

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My son and I always argued about this. All my box turtles have names and so does my tortoise. Each AM I go out and call all their names and they all come running from whereever they are hiding and go to the feeding stone. I only have one Cherry Head now and I go and call him by name and he also comes to me. We tried some experiments. My son went out and called Solo (CH) and he looked out from his hide but never came out. He also tried calling all the box turtles by name. Only two came out but the rest stayed in hiding. Then I went out and called to Solo. Come on dopey, here dopey. He came right over to me for a treat. The same with the box turtles. I went out and called all crazy names, and they all came running out to get their treats. It's definitely the sound of your voice, and also repetition of the same voice. My son never fed them before or called them, so they were hesitant, but when they heard my voice it was familiar to them and they associated it with food. So IMHO, they don't know names only sounds that are familiar to them, and they associate the voice they are familiar with, with food, or in the case with the box turtles, sometimes curiosity. I have found that box turtles are extremely curious.
 
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