Getting closer to my Russian

[Tchaikovsky]

I have had my Russian Tortoise for about 3 years now. Unfortunately, I have not been properly caring for him, but I am determined to make his life better. On this note, my tortoise is VERY opposed to the idea of me at all. I think he hates me. I try to pet him but he just gets mad and jerks himself away from me. Whenever I take him outside, it's like he's trying to run away from me and hide so he never gets found again. He will usually refuse food from me and only eat it way later, when it's all dry and gross. He acts like a 14 yr old who is mad at his parents and I just really want to give him some love and hopefully get some love in return. Any ideas on how to make this happen? I really appreciate it!

 

[Gillian M]

Hi @Tchaikovsky (I like the name!) and welcome to the forum.

Please note that torts do NOT like to be cuddled/loved/carried, unlike other pets/animals. Torts are very solitary animals. Therefore do not worry.

Please post pics of your tort and his/her enclosure so as to enable us to help you more easily.

Give your tort a daily soak in warm water so as to avoid pyramiding and dehydration, and make sure that here's enough warmth and humidity.

Read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread and do not hesitate to ask any question when in doubt.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

I understand that they aren't like a dog, but I have heard of several other members here with at least a love relationship between them.

 

[Taylor T.]

Welcome!

Here is a thread about tortoises emotions:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/m...-unhappy-lonely-some-part-of-its-life.148295/

 

[Gillian M]

I understand that they aren't like a dog, but I have heard of several other members here with at least a love relationship between them.

Let's hope @Taylor T. has been of help. Thanks @Taylor T. Appreciate it.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

So are you saying that he'll never be happy? All I want is a better life for him. I just want to give him head pets like other owners do. Or at least feel like he doesn't hate every move I make.

 

[Gillian M]

So are you saying that he'll never be happy? All I want is a better life for him. I just want to give him head pets like other owners do. Or at least feel like he doesn't hate every move I make.

If you meant me, no I did not mean he would never be happy.

 

[Tom]

So are you saying that he'll never be happy? All I want is a better life for him. I just want to give him head pets like other owners do. Or at least feel like he doesn't hate every move I make.

Look up the term anthropomorphism. This is what you are doing here. Assigning human emotions to an animal. Nobody's tortoise "loves" them. Some of them are less fearful than others, and some have positive associations (food) with their people, but its not love or affection.

It sounds like your tortoise does not have a positive association with you. You may need to embark on a journey of desensitization. @maggie3fan excels in this arena. I hope she'll see my bat-signal here and chime in. She's got all sorts of tips and techniques for handling them and carrying them around. I would try to skip feeding for a day to get the tortoise hungry, and then patiently, calmly try to hand feed the tortoise some colorful flowers of the right variety, or some romaine, or mazuri, or whatever your tortoise loves the most. You might have to sit there for 10 minutes with your hand in the enclosure, and it may take persistence, but you'll usually make some progress.

The other thing to consider is if this is a wild caught tortoise from a pet store. If yes, then this tortoises entire life history is working against your efforts. It can be overcome, but this sort of thing is far less common with a captive bred baby. No one can tell you if you'll ever get to that sort of head-petting relationship, but you should be able to improve things significantly with some effort and the right technique.

 

[theguy67]

I agree with what has been previously said. Unfortunately, tortoises aren't really the "head petting" type of pet. Any sort of physical contact is really only for the keeper's benefit (besides health inspection, soak, etc).

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

The tortoise will never come to love you.
But it may, given time, care to enjoy the things you do for it. Feeding special treats (the Food God Factor), head rubs, petting and so on. Then he may actively seek you out or come to you.

 

[Taloan]

I've had my tortoise, Moppy, for a year. When I first got him he would hiss or retreat if we moved around his enclosure and didn't really do much. He has a big enclosure that takes up the end of my kitchen, so he's right in the middle of all the action. Now, after a year I feel like our dynamic has totally changed. He's very responsive, in the morning when I get up and come in the kitchen he'll come over to his food dish and wait to be fed. If I don't feed him right away he has a tendency to start shoving things over in his enclosure (to try and find food for himself?). I'll take him out at times and let him explore in the gated off living room and he will come up to me or my kids, he even follows me around sometimes. Even my two kids (who are two and 4) he seems very comfortable around. He'll come up to them and doesn't act afraid of them. I've never tried to be "physically affectionate" with him though. He clearly doesn't enjoy being touched so I have strict rules that the kids can sit and watch him and they can feed him approved food (he'll eat from our fingers) but I've never tried to force physical contact on him because he doesn't enjoy it so it would only be for my benefit. For me I've gotten a lot of satisfaction from the fact that he isn't shy around us at all anymore and that he watches me and regards me as that thing that gives him food, so clearly I'm of some benefit to him. I think the biggest things that accomplished that were having his enclosure in a main area where we are around constantly and having a recognizable routine so he expects me to feed him at a certain time and comes to meet me in the morning. Honestly, all my previous experience was with geckos and snakes who are completely unaware I exist so a tortoise seems downright affectionate to me.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Does your tortoise have his own, safe enclosure outside? If not, it isn’t at all surprising he is running and trying to hide. He’s a tiny little thing and when he’s out in the open, all he knows is that he’s at risk of being eaten.

My Russian has a lot of personality and is pretty chill as far as Russians go. But she doesn’t like her shell touched and she only rarely allows a head scratch. That is a little bit of a bummer but I can live without it, since she is pretty tolerant of humans otherwise.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

Does your tortoise have his own, safe enclosure outside?

No, unfortunately I live in South Dakota which is no place for an outdoor tortoise pen.
However, I AM trying to make his indoor terrarium more enjoyable by putting some peat moss and (hopefully) plant some things for him to nibble on in there.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

It sounds like your tortoise does not have a positive association with you. You may need to embark on a journey of desensitization. @maggie3fan excels in this arena. I hope she'll see my bat-signal here and chime in. She's got all sorts of tips and techniques for handling them and carrying them around. I would try to skip feeding for a day to get the tortoise hungry, and then patiently, calmly try to hand feed the tortoise some colorful flowers of the right variety, or some romaine, or mazuri, or whatever your tortoise loves the most. You might have to sit there for 10 minutes with your hand in the enclosure, and it may take persistence, but you'll usually make some progress.

This is what I was looking for, like tolerance of me. I suppose I would consider that love. Just as long as he isn't afraid of me anymore.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

Hi @Tchaikovsky (I like the name!) and welcome to the forum.

Please note that torts do NOT like to be cuddled/loved/carried, unlike other pets/animals. Torts are very solitary animals. Therefore do not worry.

Please post pics of your tort and his/her enclosure so as to enable us to help you more easily.

Give your tort a daily soak in warm water so as to avoid pyramiding and dehydration, and make sure that here's enough warmth and humidity.

Read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread and do not hesitate to ask any question when in doubt.

I am in the process of changing his enclosure right now, so I will post after the change. He, admittedly, is probably not getting enough humidity. I plan to solve that with the Sphagnum moss.

 

[Gillian M]

I am in the process of changing his enclosure right now, so I will post after the change. He, admittedly, is probably not getting enough humidity. I plan to solve that with the Sphagnum moss.

Will be looking forward to seeing the pics.