Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Animals are concerned with things that are important to them,
and remember those things. A big concern of theirs is food and
they will associate you with it. As with anything, if you spend
time with it, it will get "smarter" as you will have more
interaction and recognize behavior and personality more.
My tortoise gets lots of attention and is very interactive with
us. I've posted dozens of pictures over the years of him
walking with me down the street of our neighborhood. He does
this better than any dog, and chooses to do this. If he's in
a mood to go for a walk he'll let me know by heading towards
the side of the house - as opposed to just grazing and
bumbling around. If he wants to go in he goes to the house
doors, same with going outside - when he was kept indoors.
(By the way, he never messed in the house ever - but I
can't guarantee this for any one elses tort.)

He's also accustomed to riding in the car and going to other
places without stress. A lot of it is what they're used to,
and how much exposure to things they've had (remembering they're
reptiles and not stressing them). If you toss your tortoise out
in the yard and just feed it, then it'll be a wreck when you
pick it up and take it someplace.

He certainly recognizes me and my family. He also recognizes
the vet and the vet's office, and certainly my parent's house.

He's very confident in strange places. Teddy can also indicate
his desire to get water because he knows where the water hose is
in the yard. He has learned to maneuver numerous design set-ups
for his housing requirments as he grew. He also knows where the
fridge is in the house and which cabinet holds his Mazuri.

I've heard that tortoises are the most intelligent reptiles
(possibly also the King Cobra snake) and at least equal to the
abilitiy of a rat mentally.

I'd encourage you to take the time to observe your baby and
interact with it, hand feed him too. You will be rewarded.
Theodore my sulcata

So how would you rate their site and hearing to other animals?

( As he says with his head gear and mouth piece in )

I think their sight is excellent, certainly in color.
I believe they are a tiny bit far-sighted, meaning they can
see very sharply things at a distance and nearby, but stuff
right in front of their nose is a tad blurry. I know mine
can spot me inside from 60 ft. in a second, through the glass
door from outside in his enclosure through the chain link.
He responds to hand signals and foot signals on our walks.

As far as hearing, I don't think it's that sharp. Certainly
they feel vibrations (he hates the school bus and large
military airplance overhead) and can hear your voice as a
certain sound. I can sneak outside if his back is to me, and
he doesn't respond until he catches me out of the corner of his
eye then he jumps up and stampedes over.

I know all the torotises I've seen in pet shops come over when
they see people.
I accidentally snuck up on a snapping turtle and surprised the
heck out of both of us when he saw me and took off into the stream
behind our old house. I would actually feed them (I know, bad bad)
but they were very watchful. You couldn't get near them if they
were out of the water most of the time.

The sea turtles at the beach seem very concious of people and will
come up and look at you, I mean you are looking them right in
the eye, even the captive one at the aquarium.

thanks for sharing your stories about teddy-- he's adorable (not to mention *very* lucky)!

though his fear of people is pretty much nonexistant 'cause he was captive bred, i've nevertheless interacted with junior daily. i hand feed him some of his food, and i pet him around the head and neck (and legs when he lets me) to help get him used to being handled a lot, and he tolerates it very well (and even seems to enjoy it sometimes-- he'll press his head up against my finger a lot when i pet him).

also, there was this tupperware i'd put him in when i took him to the vet on two occasions (the first for the diagnosis of his u.r.i., when he got a shot, and the second time for a followup and parasite check). when i put him in it to take him to my mom's house, he got *really* agitated and pooped like *five* times. X_X;; i suppose he was scared; i think he associated that tupperware with traveling... i need to take him more places as it gets warmer so he'll learn that it's not always going to lead to a shot or something.