Anyone know of tortoises trained to come with dinner bell?

[JohnnyB65]

I want my Desert tortoise to come for dinner on command so that I don’t have to leave the food out all day. He doesn’t have a regular schedule and if I don’t feed him when he’s out, he will not eat the food when it dries out or it will be eaten by birds and other animals.

Today I just missed him going back into his burrow and I tried knocking on the doorway, but he didn’t come back out right away. I went ahead and placed his food down anyway which he is finally eating now.

My wife used to be able to call him out to eat and that make me think that I might be able to call him out too, but he will not come to me unless he sees me preparing his food.

 

[Rue]

Lol...they are smarter than we give them credit for.

Try the bell training. I can't see why it wouldn't work. Maybe start by offering him a favourite, rare treat...be consistent in offering the treat until he becomes consistent in coming for it. Then you can slowly wean him off the treats. ..and just ring the bell for the healthy meal.

It would help if you were very consistent in the timing too...at least until the bell training is firmly entrenched.

 

[JohnnyB65]

Thanks Rue, I wasn't quite sure if it would work. I thought maybe if I rang a bell each time I was actually there to feed him, he might catch on. At least he would know it would be fresh and not sitting in his bowl all day in the sun.

 

[Lyn W]

Many people say that torts can't hear but I'm sure mine does. He always reacts and comes towards me if I making clicking or tutting noises at him. Some may say it's coincidence but it happens every time even when he hasn't seen me.

 

[JohnnyB65]

Many people say that torts can't hear but I'm sure mine does. He always reacts and comes towards me if I making clicking or tutting noises at him. Some may say it's coincidence but it happens every time even when he hasn't seen me.

I know for sure that they can hear. Mine ducts every time there is a loud noise like me dropping a plank or a loud dog bark and I saw him coming out when my wife would call for him. He knows her voice and I don't know why he doesn't respond to my voice, but he does look at me when I call for him.

 

[Rue]

I am not sure where this myth has come from...that tortoises can't hear.

They have perfectly good ears.

Now...I will add...that not all animals will want to do what they are capable of doing (just like people).

I have a parrot that can talk and can fly. She opts to do neither. She prefers to shriek and wait for taxi service...or, if she absolutely has to...walk.

 

[Gillian M]

Personally I do not think that torts can hear however can they feel vibrations.

Rue, Lyn, Johnny please do not misunderstand me here. Thank you all.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Mine come if I knock on the walls with my fist.
Maybe part sound. Maybe part vibration.
Whatever it is...it works.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Mine act like they cant hear even when i turn the vacuum on, they dont even flinch. So annoying. Lol

 

[Carol S]

Mine come when I call them hoping I have some food for them or a treat.

 

[JohnnyB65]

Mine act like they cant hear even when i turn the vacuum on, they dont even flinch. So annoying. Lol

That’s interesting! I'm guessing that you keep them inside maybe in an enclosure since you are vacuuming. Maybe if they are just feeling vibrations, that it might be the wrong frequency or dampened by the enclosure walls.

The thing about hearing is that we are sensing vibrations through the air and maybe they don’t have as refined sensing as we do or other animals. Dogs hear a much higher range of frequencies than humans and maybe tortoises hear a lower or smaller range.

 

[lighthiker2]

Many people say that torts can't hear but I'm sure mine does. He always reacts and comes towards me if I making clicking or tutting noises at him. Some may say it's coincidence but it happens every time even when he hasn't seen me.

Tortoises have hearing approximating that of humans in range. They will learn their names, will come when called and will get used to a schedule for feeds. thy also get HANGRY if you are late (personal experience).

 

[MPRC]

4/5 of my Redfoots react to sound. The 5th one, nothing audible phases him.
I have 2 greedy eaters who I think would take to some sort of bell training because they already know the sound of the mazuri container. The others aren't food motivated so I think they might ignore attempts.

 

[Gillian M]

Mine act like they cant hear even when i turn the vacuum on, they dont even flinch. So annoying. Lol

Oli's the same even with the vacuum cleaner or the washing machine on. Never have I seen or noticed a reaction to a sound or noise.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Oli's the same even with the vacuum cleaner or the washing machine on. Never have I seen or noticed a reaction to a sound or noise.

*sigh* What to do

 

[Rue]

LOL...does it matter?

They'll do what they want to do!

My one dog won't always come when we call him either...and I know his hearing is excellent. He can hear the treat jar open from a mile away...

 

[Gillian M]

*sigh* What to do

A good question though I wish I could answer it.

 

[Gillian M]

I just read on the the net that torts do NOT hear, but feel vibrations.

 

[Rue]

What is your source? All the scientific and trade references I can find confirm that tortoises have good hearing.

Examples of easy to read references on-line:

http://www.anapsid.org/reptilehearing.html

Regarding turtles, two media articles, one from Newsweek, but nicely researched and written up...

http://www.newsweek.com/turtles-talk-each-other-parents-call-out-offspring-265613

https://news.mongabay.com/2014/07/n...earchers-find-turtles-chirp-click-meow-cluck/

The second mentions that the 'turtles are deaf' traces back to 1950, and that no one had bothered to do much research on it, and made erroneous assumptions.

I had read some other, more scientific, information, but I can't find it quickly. Sorry, if I have time to dig it up, I'll post it.

 

[tglazie]

This is very interesting. I always went with the old sources without question on this. All the old Highfield books and Mediterranean Tortoises by Brian Pursall said that tortoises are virtually deaf, that keepers often mistake a tortoise coming when called for a tortoise coming when signaled visually. And honestly, I've never questioned this, so I tend not to call my beasts. I offer them cactus, chicory, carrot greens, grape leaves, and other things not grown in the main grazing areas every morning from spring to late summer, and every morning when I do this, I tend to wave to them to get their attention, with my gestures becoming all the more grand and sweeping for those animals whose attention I can't capture with a smaller one. My most outgoing tortoises generally approach without any gesture whatsoever; my presence is generally all that is required. I have one male Hermanns in particular who approaches my form as being not the benevolent bringer of food, but as another jerk with the gall to invade his territory. He does this to any creature that enters his domain, from the smallest sparrow to the largest human. Once I leave, of course, he will seek out his food pile and go to town, but only after I'm out of sight range. I have several tortoises that are more shy (virtually all the juveniles and hatchlings are on the shier side, and they tend to cower if I linger over them; this is why as soon as I've taken them from their morning bath, I place them in front of their food pile and make myself scarce; this is usually encouragement enough for them to eat their fill while I watch from a distance).


T.G.