Wild vs Pet

[WithLisa]

I personally don't believe that torts can be trained like other pets/animals

Why not? I think every animal can be trained with appropriate methods. Not long ago I had to spend a whole day training fruit fly larvae (of course it worked, but it was boring as hell... ).

 

[Gillian M]

Why not? I think every animal can be trained with appropriate methods. Not long ago I had to spend a whole day training fruit fly larvae (of course it worked, but it was boring as hell... ).

What you mentioned in your alert makes sense: we should be able to train any animal. After all, they have a..brain and a nervous system. However, I have tried to train my beloved Greek tort not to entre one of the rooms of my flat, but....no way it is (or rather, was) the one and only room it wanted to entre. I even posted a thread called: "Training A Tort," at the time. I tried time and once again but didn't get anywhere, so I stopped: I didn't want to annoy the poor little thing. (Mind you, I'm an extremely patient person). One thing I'm quite sure of is that torts can be so but so ...stubborn! Agree?

 

[WithLisa]

If it didn't work, you must have used the wrong method.

 

[Gillian M]

If it didn't work, you must have used the wrong method.

Maybe. Do you by any chance know how one can train a tort to do/not to do certain things? If so, I'd very much appreciate your informing me. Research was of no help whatsoever. Thanks a lot in advance your help.

 

[WithLisa]

Well, depends on what you want to train. To do:reward with food. Not to do: make it uncomfortable.

 

[Gillian M]

Well, depends on what you want to train. To do:reward with food. Not to do: make it uncomfortable.

Thank you so much your prompt reply as well as your help.

Let us say, if I wanted to go back to training my tort not to entre on of the rooms, while it is roaming around the place. (I know that a large majority of the members in the forum don't approve of allowing a tort to roam around. They'd rather one keeps one's tor in its enclosure. But that's besides the point).

Once again, thank you so much your help. Appreciate it.

 

[WithLisa]

In a corner of my enclosure I have a few not so healthy plants. Not toxic, but the torts shouldn't eat them every day, so I surrounded them with an uncomfortable zone (I put a row of small tiles around, so it's a smooth ground without coverage). My torts avoid to go over that border.

But in your case it's difficult because the whole flat is an uncomfortable zone.

 

[Gillian M]

In a corner of my enclosure I have a few not so healthy plants. Not toxic, but the torts shouldn't eat them every day, so I surrounded them with an uncomfortable zone (I put a row of small tiles around, so it's a smooth ground without coverage). My torts avoid to go over that border.

But in your case it's difficult because the whole flat is an uncomfortable zone.

Thanks very much you help anyway.

 

[tartagon]

I believe tortoises do not function based solely on instincts, but learned behaviour too. When they come to you, a giant in their eyes, they are doing so because they have learnt that you are not a threat and that good things normally come from you. This has made you more than just a 'food god' to them but also a good creature in general. I'd even say they "like" your presence.

This reminds me of an interesting article I read a couple years ago about instincts. In short, it discussed how knowledge cannot be stored in genes to pass onto the brain as instincts. The only instincts are simple involuntary motor movements like chicks pecking through eggshells. Every other action beyond that is refined through learning.

Excerpt:
"Thinking that innate knowledge brings about the harmony between an organism and its environment is committing a conceptual, homunculus fallacy, for there is no such thing as storing knowledge in the brain or in the genome. Whether an animal knows what it does depends on what the animal can do. Instinctive behaviour is at first displayed unhesitatingly and is species-specific, but may be modified or controlled by animals when they start using their senses, become self-moving creatures starting to explore the world, and when their intellect and will develops as the result of maturation and learning."