Aldabra Hatchling Behavior - Skittish

franz_see

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Hi,

I actually have 2 questions, but I'll separate them into two threads.

Background: After 2 years of raising sulcata hatchlings and 1 year of raising indian star hatchlings, my wife and I have finally got our first Aldabra hatchling. We got ours just yesterday :) Needless to say, we're very new to this. We only have theoretical knowledge of caring for Aldabras but this is our first hands on experience.

One of the things we noticed though is that our Aldabra (named Watu), seems to be 'skittish'. What i mean is that if I approach him from the side and 'startle' him, instead of hiding in his shell like a normal tortoise would, he would actually run :)

But I do see him retreat in his shell if i approach him from the front.

Is that normal for aldabra hatchlings? Or is this just his personality? :)

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 

Tom

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Few of us here have any Aldabra tortoise experience, and even fewer have experience raising baby Aldabras.

Of the ones that I have seen, and the people I've talked to that keep the species, they are known to be shyer and more "spooky" than some other species, in general.

Of course if you are used to sulcatas, then everything else might seem shy in comparison. :)
 

HI Tortoise Rescue

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That seems a bit odd behavior. None of our 4 juveniles were the least bit skittish, although they were larger than yours when we got them. In fact, any time our hands were near, they'd come over to see what we were doing, & they're still that way years later. Might just be a personality thing, but I do suggest that you get him used to you, thinking a few years ahead when he weighs hundreds of pounds. See if you can get him to eat hibiscus from your hand, or maybe some bright fruit. All of ours love to do that.

Ken
 

Fredkas

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Asked more cause i want to learn more also. there is so little information about actual hands on about aldabra hatchling.
 

wellington

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Well, if I remember from the million posts of Aldabraman, hatchlings are skittish and adult females are more skittish and not as personable as the males. If you want to know about Aldabras, read the millions of post/threads of Aldabramans. He has or had all ages. @ALDABRAMAN
 

Fredkas

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Well, if I remember from the million posts of Aldabraman, hatchlings are skittish and adult females are more skittish and not as personable as the males. If you want to know about Aldabras, read the millions of post/threads of Aldabramans. He has or had all ages. @ALDABRAMAN
Interesting!
 

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