Tortoise Language

[EquestrianBabe]

Hello Everyone,
I was thinking last night as I went to sleep, do tortoises think? And do they think words like 'I'm Hungry' or do they use body language instead? Do they use body language to communicate with eachother? Thanks all, I know these questions might be hard to answer, but I like posting random questions

[16 shells]

I know they use body movement like head bobbing when they confront each other, read once a theory, animals that are not vocal may have extra senses to comunicate that humans have lost, through evolution. Nice if they have.

[EquestrianBabe]

I wonder do they make little noises that only other torts can hear?

[not-short-of-a-tort]

me and my friend where talking about this the other day i reckon they communicate with each other somehow! but she reckons not (ehy tort-a-lot) we do however stare at the babies and guess what they are thinking...its sad but actually hilarious !!

[Ozric Jonathan]

Tortoises do not have conscious awareness of their existence.

It's said that some apes might have this capability but animals such as reptiles act on instinct. As I understand it, the female tortoise does not decide to dig her nest in the warmest place -she just does it. In the same way a tortoise does not 'know' it is hungry.

But we know that tortoises have a memory and go back to the same place to drink or sleep.

Tortoises interact with each other but this behaviour is not communication in the way that we usually use this word.

Tortoises are highly sensitive creatures with actute senses and each has patterns of repetitive behaviour. As a result each animal is unique and we can recognise the individual tortoise even if it looks the same as another.

These are not the most intelligent of creatures, but intelligence is an over rated virtue. Just look at what mankind does to his envrionment.

[yuna1971]

They must have some degree of intelligence though..to be able to thermoregulate the way they do. To be able to move in and out of heat and light when they feel they need to...If they just sat there they would just get hotter and hotter, so I consider this a particular intelligence.
They also have the instinct to know when its cooler, darker - as it Winter and the cold is drawing in, then kicking in the need to want to hibernate or to act accordingly to how they feel.
Lastly, if they have literally been on this earth since, so we are told - the dinosaurs, if thats the case then their intelligence and will to live surpasses anything on this planet.
Just my opinion...thats all. xx

[yuna1971]

Also, when grazing, dont they tend to "avoid" weeds that are bad for them.? I expect many of us have seen this with our own torts. I have. That isnt to say they would never eat things out there that are bad....but even to do this on a small scale, one sniff or bite - then spitting out or ignoring - again, to me that is a very intelligent creature. Its not 100% relied upon...but it happens.
I think that Lily has intelligence....I am sticking my neck out here, but thats just from seeing how he acts day in day out. I am sure others feel the same.
xx

[ziggy's owner]

They must know stuff, cause no matter where my torts are on
Their table they come running as soon as I entre and they can see me till
I walk around the front, so how do they know I'm
There, also they watch me and come to my hands, they watch me as much as I watch them

[Ozric Jonathan]

Tortoises measure daylength through the pineal gland; this triggers winding down processes but the tortoise does not 'think' winter is coming.

Of course, our tortoises get to know we are a source of food and this has a powerful effect on behaviour. Although their hearing is poor compared to humans' they are very sensitive to vibrations and I susepct that is why they come running.

But I don't mean to diasgree with my friends here, the tortoise is a fantastic creature and many of the species we keep are highly adaptable. They have an acute sense of taste and smell which gives them an ability to detect what is edible. They also learn over time about foods - hatchlings will bite at any green obect but juvenile tortoises have a scale of preferences and only eat certain foods when there is nothing else available.

I just don't honestly believe that tortoises have a great deal of problem solving capability.

[Helen M]

As much as I love mine I appreciate that they have very tiny brains and probably don't have any kind of intelligence. They're simply little machines, preprogrammed to respond to stimuli.

Helen xx