Can Desert Torts hear?

[Shelly]

They don't appear to have ears, and my 3 certainly don't react to sound at all. Can they hear? If they can, how well is their hearing?

 

[dmmj]

Everytime I think I have this figured out I change my mind. They do not have extrernal ears, but I am pretty sure they can hear, ( as of this moment), Some people say when they call them by name they come running, all I know is when I drop food in his pen he comes running.

 

[Yvonne G]

This is a widely debated issue. If you look just behind the eye you will see a round, smooth spot. This is the external membrane covering the internal "ear." Some swear that their tortoises will come when called, and others say they only feel vibrations. My thinking is somewhere in between. I think they hear, but not as well as we do.

Yvonne