How personable are pancake tortoises?

RayRay

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Ive heard sulcatas are the most. On a scale of 1-10 what are these ones?
 

Tom

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Most of them are shy. I have seen and heard of a few that act like "normal" tortoises.
 

leigti

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I don't raise them, I have one male now. I've had him for a little less than a year I think. He is definitely more shy than my Russian but he does respond when I knock on the side of the enclosure when I put food in. I expect he will become less shy and more tolerant of handling as time goes on, he has already improved as far as that goes. He definitely does not hide all day.
 

RayRay

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I don't raise them, I have one male now. I've had him for a little less than a year I think. He is definitely more shy than my Russian but he does respond when I knock on the side of the enclosure when I put food in. I expect he will become less shy and more tolerant of handling as time goes on, he has already improved as far as that goes. He definitely does not hide all day.

Oh cool, how big is he? Is he an adult?
 

leigti

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He is 6 inches long. Definitely an adult. Wild caught I'm sure. His name is Jack, as in flapjack.
I bet if you got a captive bred one, handled it often etc. it would be less shy. At least to a certain extent. Like I said, this one is getting better and better.
 

Tom

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I bet if you got a captive bred one, handled it often etc. it would be less shy. At least to a certain extent. Like I said, this one is getting better and better.

From what I have seen, you are correct.
 

RayRay

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Are you thinking about getting one? 

When I get my own place I would. Just mainly curious for now.

My sulcata recently passed away so I'm just looking around at the various species.

I am going to get another sulcata, just not yet. I'm not ready for another tortoise. I might wait for a Sudanese sulcata to go on sale before I buy. Or maybe a Senegal one if there are any of those even in the USA.
 

leigti

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I'm sorry about your tortoise passing away. I had two pancakes, one died shortly after I got them. Long sad story but it broke my heart.
Somebody on the forearm called Russian tortoises miniature sulcatas. They usually have a ton of personality and mine anyway is fearless. She's extremely outgoing, response to my voice, comes better when called then my dog does sometimes :) and is not afraid of anything. She lets me know quickly if she likes the food I give her or not.
Whatever tortoise you get next just remember they are all individuals. No matter what you would love it too.
 

RayRay

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That's pretty neat, that they come :)

I had my tortoise from a hatchling, for about a year.
 

BrianWI

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Hand feeding just about any animal goes a long way toward making them more sociable.
 

tortadise

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Quite reclusive. Even young produced here will forage as rapidly possible they can, the. Retreat with vigor to shelter just like the adults. Over time they will gain a sense of the "bringer of food" and become more less skittish. But really it's the nature of this rock dwellers species.
 

BrianWI

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Is there a correlation between the friendliness of a species and the amount of predators their species would face in the wild? I would assume living around rocks would make it harder to hide from a predator than it would be in a jungle or savanna.
 

RayRay

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I have read that birds on islands that have been isolated from predators for thousands of years have no fear of cats and that's why they easily go extinct. There is also the flightless parrot of new Zealand that is "friendly" and curious of humans.
 

leigti

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Is there a correlation between the friendliness of a species and the amount of predators their species would face in the wild? I would assume living around rocks would make it harder to hide from a predator than it would be in a jungle or savanna.
Maybe. But I think their body has adapted to hide very well in their rocky environment. They are very flat, very fast. I have noticed that mine hide some more when he is outdoors and when he is indoors. But his outdoor environment is much better then indoors so I think it's worth it. All that natural sunlight. And nice weeds to eat. He comes out when I water down the enclosure.
 

BrianWI

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Yes, he has adapted to hide in a rocky environment. But that would mean staying still and "playing rock". Does that need equate with "shy"? I wish I were filthy rich and could go see all these species in their natural environment. In fact, I'm gonna go get a lottery ticket right now!
 
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