training and play time

[jaden21]

i have my hermanns in a 4'x6' tank. in the summer i take him out alot. when he starts to climb the walls in his tank i take him out and put him in the kitchen for a few hours after soaking. he seems to enjoy the excersie.

i was told by a friend that works with tortoises at a zoo, that you can train the tortoises. i was wondering if anyone has done this.

i would also like to let mine roam the house but it is definently NOT tortoise proofed... i know they like to climb but he has a bad habit of flipping himself. im scared to put more rocks in his tank or make the height of his tank higher for this reason any thoughts would be great thanks.

 

[GBtortoises]

Train him to do what? They're pretty good at eating, pooping and sleeping on their own. I'm not so sure about their ability to ride a bicycle or break dance.

 

[Moozillion]

Train him to do what? They're pretty good at eating, pooping and sleeping on their own. I'm not so sure about their ability to ride a bicycle or break dance.

Bwahahaha!!!

 

[jaden21]

a friend of mine works at the baltimore zoo with the tortoises. she has told me they train the tortoises. i was just curious to know if anyone else has tried this. you didn't have to be rude about it.

 

[Spn785]

Train him to do what? They're pretty good at eating, pooping and sleeping on their own. I'm not so sure about their ability to ride a bicycle or break dance.

ROFLMAO!!!!!

---

a friend of mine works at the baltimore zoo with the tortoises. she has told me they train the tortoises. i was just curious to know if anyone else has tried this. you didn't have to be rude about it.

I don't think his intention was to be rude, I just think he was saying there really isn't much you CAN train them to do. I know you can train them to follow you, but beyond that I don't think there is much.

 

[Arnold_rules]

Train him to do what? .... or break dance.

Not true. Lay them on their back and spin them.

 

[Spn785]

Train him to do what? .... or break dance.

Not true. Lay them on their back and spin them.

LMAO!! That is REALLY wrong and REALLY funny!

 

[MasterOogway]

i have my hermanns in a 4'x6' tank. in the summer i take him out alot. when he starts to climb the walls in his tank i take him out and put him in the kitchen for a few hours after soaking. he seems to enjoy the excersie.

i was told by a friend that works with tortoises at a zoo, that you can train the tortoises. i was wondering if anyone has done this.

i would also like to let mine roam the house but it is definently NOT tortoise proofed... i know they like to climb but he has a bad habit of flipping himself. im scared to put more rocks in his tank or make the height of his tank higher for this reason any thoughts would be great thanks.

Maybe you could have your friend film a short film and put it on YouTube so we could have an idea what your friend means by training. Training can mean different things to different folks. Or maybe she can describe what tricks the zoo keepers do. I don't know about training a tortoise but my tortoise has me trained lol .

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Mine will come to me because I feed them and follow me around outside if I am holding a cactus pad. Not really a trick they just like food. I would like to know what your friend trains them to do. I would also be very interested to know which species he work's with.

 

[Moozillion]

Our local Herp society had a reptile keeper from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans talk about training their huge Aldabras. They wanted to be able to direct them where to go, because they're waaaay to heavy to pick up. They put a large red plastic ball (like 6 inches in diameter) on a long broomstick. Whenever they fed them, they would make sure the big ball on the stick was lying nearby in plain view, so the animals would get used to it and not think it was dangerous. During the training period, the ONLY time the animals were exposed to the ball on the stick was when they were fed. Once the animals were used to the ball, the keepers would show them the ball first, BEFORE they got any food, but then quickly fed them afterwards. The torts learned: "I see big red ball- yummy food is coming soon!" So then they started following the ball, and the keepers would LEAD them to the food.

Once they got to the point where the torts followed the big ball on the stick, they had it made. They could lead them inside their enclosure to get blood drawn for their annual physical exams. It was a vey big deal that they could get them to crawl out of their pond and come into their enclosure on winter days when a cold wave was coming: if they got caught in the pond when it got cold, the hypothermia could kill them. It took 6 to 8 MONTHS to get all 4 tortoises trained. Some responded better to orange rather than red, and one responded better to a red ball with a broad white stripe around it. If memory serves, the females learned faster than the males, but that's no surprise!!!!! Ha ha!

 

[Moozillion]

Just as an interesting aside, someone asked the zookeeper if they tried training other reptiles too. She said yes- they used this technique on the crocodiles, and that "Crocodiles learn fast-SCARY fast!!!" So I guess if you're interested in the smartest reptiles, crocs might be good candidates!

 

[Spn785]

Just as an interesting aside, someone asked the zookeeper if they tried training other reptiles too. She said yes- they used this technique on the crocodiles, and that "Crocodiles learn fast-SCARY fast!!!" So I guess if you're interested in the smartest reptiles, crocs might be good candidates!

Either that or hungriest.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I've trained my 4 Hermann's torts to come to their feeding rock when I ring a cowbell...Jennifer, back when she was my only tort, learned fairly quickly, and once the other three arrived, they learned by emulating her.

No tap-dancing, juggling, or jumping through flaming hoops just yet, but we've got years to go and I'm patient!

 

[MasterOogway]

I've trained my 4 Hermann's torts to come to their feeding rock when I ring a cowbell...Jennifer, back when she was my only tort, learned fairly quickly, and once the other three arrived, they learned by emulating her.

No tap-dancing, juggling, or jumping through flaming hoops just yet, but we've got years to go and I'm patient!

I like that idea. I bet that is a cute thing to watch!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I've trained my 4 Hermann's torts to come to their feeding rock when I ring a cowbell...Jennifer, back when she was my only tort, learned fairly quickly, and once the other three arrived, they learned by emulating her.

No tap-dancing, juggling, or jumping through flaming hoops just yet, but we've got years to go and I'm patient!

I like that idea. I bet that is a cute thing to watch!

It really is...often when I come out to feed 'em, they'll be in some other part of the enclosure, not able to see me (due to visual barriers)...but once I ring their bell, their little feet start a-pumpin'.

One of these days I need to borrow a video camera and put them on YouTube!

 

[MasterOogway]

I've trained my 4 Hermann's torts to come to their feeding rock when I ring a cowbell...Jennifer, back when she was my only tort, learned fairly quickly, and once the other three arrived, they learned by emulating her.

No tap-dancing, juggling, or jumping through flaming hoops just yet, but we've got years to go and I'm patient!

I like that idea. I bet that is a cute thing to watch!

It really is...often when I come out to feed 'em, they'll be in some other part of the enclosure, not able to see me (due to visual barriers)...but once I ring their bell, their little feet start a-pumpin'.

One of these days I need to borrow a video camera and put them on YouTube!

I would love to see it!!!

 

[pepsiandjac]

i'm going to tie a sweeping brush to mine and train them to sweep the floor

 

[Moozillion]

i'm going to tie a sweeping brush to mine and train them to sweep the floor

LOVE IT!!!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

i'm going to tie a sweeping brush to mine and train them to sweep the floor

Let 'em earn their keep!

Didn't Wilma Flintstone use a sulcatasaurus to mow her lawn?