My leopard Tortoise is about 1 year old-he is walking back and forth and almost looks like he is trying to climb the glass-what is he doing?Ive never noticed this behavior before-any advice is appreciated
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Re odd Leopard tort behavior
jeanette74
Nov 17, 2005 07:30 PM
Replies (3)
TinaTurtle
Nov 19, 2005 06:13 AM
Assumming everything else is ok -as far as the terrarium being at the right temperature, having UV light, hiding places, food/water, tort in good health, etc. etc., you may need to cover the outside of the terrarium so it's not transparent. When my Hermann's tort had the same odd behavior, I covered the outside of the glass walls and... problem solved!
I think glass makes torts nervous because unlike us they can't figure out what it is. Also they don't like to be exposed all the time; they rather have hiding places where they can feel safe.
Hope this helps,
TT
jeanette74
Nov 19, 2005 09:41 AM
Thanks for the reply-he has a hide box that he spends alot of time in-I notice he does this when Im on the couch next to the tank-he has been in this tank since April 05. I take him out a couple times a week to walk around -I wonder if he is trying to get my attention because he wants to come out?does that sound too silly?
PHRatz
Nov 19, 2005 11:28 AM
I take him out a couple times a week to walk around -I wonder if he is trying to get my attention because he wants to come out?does that sound too silly?
No it doesn't sound silly. Tortoises try to get out of any enclosure that they can see through. We have a large sulcata, we HAD a chainlink fence. She would spend hours a day pacing the fence line & pushing on the fence. If they can see through it, they try to get through it.
We had a fence that she can't see through built this year, she has stopped pacing the fence line now.
I have box turtles with various problems, they are inside for the winter. They are taken out of their enclosure daily for a soak, feeding if it's feeding day, but mainly so that they can have daily exercise.
If I am late with getting them started on their soaks (which they do one at a time) and I walk into the room they are in & they see me.. they start pushing on the sides to tell me HEY you're late, we're ready to come out now!
They're smarter animals than a lot of people realize.
Fun too aren't they? 
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PHRatz
