Tortoise/Turtle Smarts

Many years ago, I rescued an ornate turtle I named Daisy from a pet store that took her in for store credit. She was very dehydrated, underweight, and being housed in improper conditions. She was overpriced, but that was some of the best money I've ever spent. She turned out to be quite smart. She would come when we wiggled our fingers and look for a treat. She'd go right up to people's feet, follow us around, and seemed to differentiate humans. 

Taking care of Little Jo expanded upon the behaviors I was seeing with Daisy. On a whim, I started tapping Little Jo's enclosure three times before I would put food in her plate. She learned very quickly what the tapping on her enclosure meant and would come eagerly. Whenever I would sit down in my chair next to her 6+ foot long home, she'd sense it somehow and come down to the end near me. Then I started using cues before I would do certain caregiving tasks, and she seemed to be picking up on those too. 

Little Jo would find also something inedible on the floor and would carry it around like a prize. For those who come from the tortoise sites: I have a large, active family. I did my best to make sure the floors were free from hazards before I let Little Jo out, but sometimes I would miss things. 

This is a Tootsie Roll wrapper she carried back and forth through four rooms and held onto for hours. She did not try to eat it. Once she was bored with it, she left it behind.
Her beak is rough from where she had been wearing it down on a stone in her enclosure.

When I started giving her more time out of her enclosure for exercise, I noticed she would walk around each room every day in the same manner before she'd move onto the next. After a while, this behavior stopped, but she would then go directly to wherever she wanted. I believe she was "mapping" the rooms on the first several trips. When I was traveling she had to stay in her enclosure for almost two months with little time out. Some of the furniture in the rooms had been moved. She followed the same pattern of "mapping" for a few times and then knew where she wanted to go.

At this point, I knew there was more going on inside of her head than I had previously thought. So, I started looking to see if anyone had trained a tortoise. I found this info and leave it here for those interested. I hope it helps educate others about our shelled friends to create awareness and compassion.

Can you really train a tort?

Gibby: The Trained Tortoise

Training Tortoises

Man Trains Turtle

Training a Tortoise to Help with Blood Work

Potty Trained Russian Tortoise

Tortoise Goes to Door to Be Let Out