Russian Vocals

[Len B]

Because of the tropical storm coming up the east coast I brought my russian tortoises inside last night, today I heard what sounded like a toad croaking,not the loud one when looking for a mate, the low soft croak they make sometimes. anyone else heard russians sounding off before, It started to get a little rough,(male after females) so I had to take one of the males out, it settled down then. I will be able to take them back outside tomorrow and they will have all their room back, and hopefully everything will be back to normal.

 

[Yvonne G]

I've only heard the vocalization during breeding.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

The only sound I ever hear from my Russians is a high squeaking when they are breeding. It's loud enough for me to hear it across the yard!

 

[laney]

I sometimes hear 'croaks' when one of mines is soaking, it's weird because he puffs under his chin up when he does it so he kind of looks froggy hehe but it's very quiet.

 

[Jenncure]

My Russian will make that noise sometimes when she's contentedly sunning herself after a meal. I call it her "happy noise".

 

[Talka]

I heard a teensy croak out of Sheldon once. He hasn't done it again and I can't figure out what caused it in the first place.

 

[WillTort2]

I'll hear various sound every once in a while; usually a noise they make with their jaw or beak.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

During copulation, male tortoises may grunt or squeak; the bigger the tortoise, the lower the pitch of his voice. However, the croaking you heard was almost certainly not from copulation. Rather, it was probably from stridulation.

All tortoises and box turtles (and maybe even all turtle species) can make a clicking or croaking sound by rubbing their upper and lower beak together. This is called stridulation, and it seems to be a form of communication, but no one really knows what it means. My pet theory is that make this noise when they are comfortable and want to lay claim to something they like, such as a pile of food or a scrape they like hiding in. Some formal research on this behavior would be great.