Shy Pancake

[jvaldes55]

I have a 7 month old Pancake tortoise, its been in my care for 3 months now and he is extremely shy to the point that he won't even eat in front of me. (I have only caught him in the act a couple of times)he is eating fine and is perfectly healthy my question is anyone know of any tips for making him a little less shy?

 

[GBtortoises]

"Shyness", more accurately security, is a perfectly normal trait of Pancake tortoises in general. Individuals may vary somewhat on their level of security but overall Pancake tortoises are hiders. It is instinctual and how they survive in the wild. Some Pancake tortoises will venture out from hiding more often than others, but in comparison to most other tortoises species Pancakes are seen out the least. It really comes down to the individual tortoise. I have a 1.2 trio, the male and one female are captive born. The other female is wild caught. I almost never see the two captive born animals out in the open, yet the wild caught female is out and about all the time!

 

[Jacqui]

Interesting to know about how you would rank them on shyness. I never would have guessed it's your wild one that is the one out and about. Glad you shared that!

 

[GBtortoises]

Interesting to know about how you would rank them on shyness. I never would have guessed it's your wild one that is the one out and about. Glad you shared that!

I scratch my head all the time trying to understand them! You would think that the captive borns would be the more outgoing and unaffraid. I can do anything in the enclosure as far as cleaning up, moving rocks around, etc... and the wild caught female, who is often out, will just sit and watch, often times coming over to investigate what's going on. The other two I rarely ever see unless I pick up the rocks that they hide under.

 

[iluvtorts]

I have a 7 month old Pancake tortoise, its been in my care for 3 months now and he is extremely shy to the point that he won't even eat in front of me. (I have only caught him in the act a couple of times)he is eating fine and is perfectly healthy my question is anyone know of any tips for making him a little less shy?

I have a trio 1.2.0. The male is out quite a bit but it took almost 2 years for him not to hide whenever I came in to the room. He also will eat in my presence. Most of the time my females go in to their cave when I come in to the room. They all eat good and are healthy. I have not figured out a way to make them less shy. After I change the substrate and re arrange the cage they are more active for a while. Sorry I couldnt be of more help.

 

[cincywhips]

I am a very new pancake owner. I have had our 1-year-old for 2 weeks. He hides often, but will bask in front of me and eat out of my hands. I was expecting him to be more shy, but I guess I just got a really brave one!