Human touch

Prairie Mom

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@Prairie Mom
I thought you might like this.

Also I posted two other in the Beans:2015 thread too. :)
So sweet. You could see him leaning into it and really enjoying it:) Please don't hesitate to post a link to your thread here also so other people can find it easily and see your other cute stuff!
 

rkelleh

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Am enjoying this thread tremendously at how cute these photos and videos are. My two babies are warming up to me and will stretch their little necks out for a rub on the top of their necks however I have not tried the chin rub yet. My husband tried and they went right in to their shells, so they are definitely mommy's babies. Maybe in time I will earn their trust on a chin rub. Thanks for all the sharing...warms my heart.
 

FujiBaird

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I was inspired by this thread and finally got Roma (my young hermann's) to fall asleep in my hands for the first time. It was just about the cutest thing ever! :<3: She enjoys a good head scratch but it's hard to tell how she feels about having her shell touched, and she's not quite at the point where she'll let me give her a neck rub. One day, I hope!
 

Prairie Mom

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Am enjoying this thread tremendously at how cute these photos and videos are. My two babies are warming up to me and will stretch their little necks out for a rub on the top of their necks however I have not tried the chin rub yet. My husband tried and they went right in to their shells, so they are definitely mommy's babies. Maybe in time I will earn their trust on a chin rub. Thanks for all the sharing...warms my heart.
awwww...sounds like your little ones are trusting you.You never know, maybe yours won't even be crazy about chin rubs. -They do seem to have preferences. I imagine that they would feel that their necks are the most vulnerable spot, so you must definitely be doing something right.:)
 

Prairie Mom

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Prairie Mom

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I was inspired by this thread and finally got Roma (my young hermann's) to fall asleep in my hands for the first time. It was just about the cutest thing ever! :<3: She enjoys a good head scratch but it's hard to tell how she feels about having her shell touched, and she's not quite at the point where she'll let me give her a neck rub. One day, I hope!
YAY!!! This makes me so happy to hear!!! :<3::tort::<3: Please share photos some time:)
 

Tidgy's Dad

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What an absolutely delightful thread!
Thanks so much to you all for posting your pictures and comments.
Tidgy also adores a neck rub, doesn't mind the stroking of her carapace, but hates her legs being touched.
 

Gillian M

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There are lots of things I enjoy about this forum, but alright, I'll admit it...

One of my very favorite things is to see photos of members showing affection for their tortoise and observing the relaxed tortoises appear to appreciate this hands-on attention.
A few photos that come to mind are @ALDABRAMAN 's photos of his wife and large aldabras obviously enjoying their neck rubs, and @Elohi 's young tortoises snuggling up on her shoulders. I've been known to pull my whole family to the computer to check out photos that we all "melt" over.

Being inspired by other forum members, I tried to capture a few of these moments. (Occasionally, she thought the camera was weird, but you get the idea )
Does your tortoise appear to like being petted? :<3::tort::<3:
Have any photos?

_______________________________________________________________________________




Our newer young sulcata "Mavis" started out so nervous and shy. Recently, the contrast has been amazing. She now toddles to my hands for her morning soak and has begun to lay down and SPRAWL when I'm rubbing her. -It's so cute to see her (guessing female) when she's really comfortable, sprawling her legs and relaxing her head as I pet her. She looks just as relaxed as she does in her beloved warm soaks. I can only guess I must be doing something right!



View attachment 118681
We call this "the head pinch." Please know that everything we do is soft and slow and she can easily withdraw any time. When we first got her, we were lucky to rub her forehead. Then she began to relax and I noticed she seemed to like to rest her chin on my thumb as I rubbed her head.

View attachment 118682
I love that little face so much! She was a little nervous of the camera during our photo shoot, but eventually she didn't care and relaxed herself as she typically does. She's become so used to my hands that she allows me to remove substrate or dirt that occasionally gets in the corners of her eyes if she's been digging a lot.

View attachment 118683
Chin scratches are good. I once read on a website that they'll only let you rub their neck and chin once they have begun to trust you. -YAY!

View attachment 118684
Sometimes she seems to direct me to where she wants the rub or light scratch and will be still and lightly push against the area where I'm working on her.

View attachment 118685
Here she decided to lay the FULL weight of her head on the soft spot between my thumb and forefinger. I'll be her pillow ANY TIME!

View attachment 118686
Deep neck rubs --I like those too, Mavis ;) It makes me feel good, like we must be a decent caregiver if she feels so safe here that she is willing to expose her full neck.


Well, there ya go! I once tried to film her during a love fest, but then she POOPED on me.:) I didn't notice one grassy feces nob fall to the floor and proceeded to step on it and track it all the way to her enclosure---nothing but grace and elegance from me, baby!!! PURE GRACE!:p
So cute! ;) GOD bless. My tortoise does NOT like to be cuddled. You're lucky that yours does. Take good care of it and good luck.
 

Gillian M

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What an absolutely delightful thread!
Thanks so much to you all for posting your pictures and comments.
Tidgy also adores a neck rub, doesn't mind the stroking of her carapace, but hates her legs being touched.
Oli does not like any of the above!
 

Loohan

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My little 3tbt went through a phase where he was real flinchy and didn't like to be handled. He would jerk in briefly from anything.
Then i fasted him for 2 weeks, trying to get him to eat greens. He never did but during that time he reverted to his old calm, friendly self.
I suspect that he was in some quasi-neurotic state from overeating. I had been feeding him all the superworms he would eat.

Now i feed him a bit less, and keep greens in his dish. He has only chomped on them a couple times, though. But also since his fast he chewed on his calcium ball a couple times, and later really gouged a piece of cuttlebone. He'd never had interest in calcium before.

He's strong and seems happy, but he's also not growing, and he's only 2" long...

Anyway i post this here because i'm curious if other people have noted a correlation between a stuffed gut and not wanting to be handled.
 

Gillian M

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Haha thanks, he seems to prefer being hand fed, I don't normally hand feed him on my hand but it made a cute pic hehe
Believe me, some people (I don't mean in the forum) do hand-feed torts whilst the tort is being carried.
 

spud's_mum

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Aww that must make the tort feel intimidated, I just hand fed him to get a photo but as you can see, he wasn't stressed out by it :)
 
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