Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anybody know how smart a turtle is?

some are definitely smarter than others, even within the smae species. ive heard that wood turtles ahve been known to complete a maze almost as fast as a rat. other than that i would asy they are pretty slow, no pun intended. it is hard to determine or test. depending on the criteria some people say certian birds are the smartest animal of all, others say primates. there is no good way that i know of to test them. pattern recognition, problem solving, memory, they are all hard to determine and i would imagine they could vary greatly from individual to individual and even more so from species to species. i guess in general from 1-10 10 being smartest i would go about 3. 1 would be a bug only capable of reactive actions, 10 would be the smartest non-human animal capable of quick problem solving and considerable pattern recognition.

If you read back a little in this forum, to some of the stories, you will see just how well Box Turtles train their "pet" humans To me that is pretty smart!!
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Jenea

1:3 Eastern Hognose
0:0:1 Florida Redbelly Snake
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

>>anybody know how smart a turtle is?

I like to take that thought and ask how smart are they as compared to what? I don't compare them to anything else.
I see it this way, if you accept them for what they are without a comparison to a dog, cat, or other animal then you'll see a very smart little critter.

And yes they are capable of training their humans.
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PHRatz

well, i wasn't comparing them to anything... but i do know they are and can be very smart. i feed my turtles on a separate tank (to keep their "home" tank as clean as possible) and one of them figured out a way to escape.. and he always does it in the same place, the same exact way. and also, they know what the food container looks like, so once they see it, they start to go after it. they also recognize when someone is in the room and actually wait for that person to go near them. they also have a tendency to want attention. and of course, we always give it to them, but just enough so as not to spoil them!

anyway, just like how goldfish have a memory of like 3 seconds or something like that, i wonder what a turtle's memory is. they obviously recognize certain things and learn to do things on their own... there aren't any facts or articles i can find about this sort of stuff...

Oh I wasn't suggesting that you were comparing them to anything.. it's just that I find that most people do compare one animal to another.
I haven't really read anything about it but my own observations are that yes they do have good memories. Once they learn how to do something (like escape)they want to do it over & over. LOL
Smart alec is more like it lol.
They remember where things are, they remember who people are. My aquatics live in a room of their own, they don't see many people other than those of us who live here. They're never afraid when they see us but they hide if a stranger comes in the room to look at them.
My box turtles are very smart, less fearful of strangers than the aquatics too. I have one living in the house because she was found injured 5 years ago. She's unable to protect herself from predators so because of that she only has supervised walks outside. There is a small burrow outside that another turtle dug up, she'll go to that burrow every day. No matter where I set her down outside she'll go to that burrow because she remembers where it is.
I think turtles and tortoises are all just awesome animals!
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PHRatz

yes, not only are they smart but they also tend to have totally different personalities. one of my turtles (ketchup, because of his red ears) is totally laid back and cautious, always ready to take cover when something is coming his way. though, when he sees movement, he always walks towards it. our other turtle (mustard, because of his yellow ears), is totally outgoing. i call him the "special" turtle because sometimes he can get really silly. he loves to climb on things and doesn't mind being petted. (i heard though, that they're not for petting so we try to minimize that as much as possible). he also likes to go behind the entertainment center which scares me to death but he always manages to knock on the glass door where the dvd player is.
anyway, i can go on about them. they really are special. and i especially like it when they give me "puppy dog eyes" right before i leave for school or work or whatever. they make me want to stay home with them...

>> they know what the food container looks like, so once they see it, they start to go after it.

Oh I forgot to mention this.. my mud turtle loves mealworms. I don't like for him to have too many so I don't feed them to him all that often, maybe that's what's made him think they are so special?
I used to buy them and he was the same way, he recognized the container they came in and he'd go nuts every time he saw me come in the room with that container.
I stopped buying them & started breeding them instead so now if I take the tub they're in outside to the box turtles, they all know what's in it too. They come running & will beg for worms.

I've heard that about goldfish having a short memory too but I wonder if it's even true.
I've noticed that the yellowjackets outside always know where to get water. Of course I know they can smell it but if I take away the water dish for cleaning, I can come back an hour later & yellowjackets are flying all around where the water dish is supposed to be & they're searching for it. When I put it back they all fly around then land on top of the water as I fill the dish. They never try to land on anyone, they never try to sting they just want the water. If bugs like that can remember where the water dish is, are goldfish really as forgetful as people think?
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PHRatz

mythbusters did a test for goldfish memory and they can do the same as turtle(recognize food containers) i have also seen goldfish pull a string dangling in their water, the string is attached to a bell, when it rings they get food, so they pull. all of this is just recognition of food, which is a base instinct or else they would all be dead and no longer contribute to the gene pool. intelligence: The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, the faculty of thought and reason. the desire of food is not intelligence. recognition of food is not intelligence. a difference in two turtles in that one jumps in the water when you enter the room and the other doesnt is not intelligence, that is a possibility of evolution, most likely the one that doesnt jump would be preyed upon in the wild and no longer contribute to the gene pool. howver, recognition of the pattern that 'that guy' doesnt try to eat me and i am therefore safe on the log when he is around IS intelligence, it is acquiring and applying knowledge. this does not require consciuos thought but does apply reason. so yes they do have intelligence, but intelligence IS all relative. when you ask HOW smart something is, "they are smart" is not an answer. to answer how smart it is it must be compared to other animals. compared to other animals they are not THAT intelligent. 'training' their owners by 'begging' for food is not intelligence. all they are doing is going toward their food source which goes back to a required desire for food. i am not going at anyone, i am trying to answer this scientifically, not just 'they are cute, they act funny, they must be smart'. i am simply applying the science of this and explaining why some of this is not scientific. do not be offended, i love my turtles, they are awesome, they got me into all the other reptiles i like and got me into science in the first place.