Other Turtle Discussion :: What is the smartest thing your turtle(s) have ever done?

[theartbook35]

Sadie- Saw me, and attempted to escape her old tank so she could get my attention. It worked.

Hurricane- Figured out that if she pushes on a particular part of their driftwood, that she can make it move.

Typhoon- Pushed the filter out of the corner, across the far wall, keeping it still suction cupped to the wall, so she could hide between it and the corner.

[happycamper]

My turtle loves to un-suck the suction cups holding his turtle dock to the side, and then swims behind it so it kinda holds him up. He knows exactly how to do it, and it's funny to watch. I stick it back on the wall and the minute I get my hand out of the tanks he's busy pullin it off again!

[turtle man]

not mine personally, but my friends turtle,"lucy" will, no joke, actually dance to music, its amazing to watch!!!

[mikee]

Tab-35 Turtles are not particularly smart as they are cold blooded reptiles. They do whatever it takes to survive and are gluttonous little pigs. They will eat themselves sick and will bite the hand that feeds them. They are turtles, and that is it. I have several tanks and four breeds of sliders. They are only lucky to belong to me.

[BullDog]

Don't know how smart it was, but Ralph once managed to climb out of the tank by pushing the lid open. He then made it out of my room, down the hall, made a u-turn, went down a flight of 16 stairs, made another u-turn, down the hall, through the kitchen, into the dining room, and wedged himself, vertically, halfway behind the cabinet. Found him about a week later -.-'


On the smarter side, I've seen him use his shell as a wedge to un-suction his plant:


And Frankie did something similar to get at some plants I was trying to protect from her hungry jaws.

[blackforces get you]

mine was smart enough to help the other in danger

turtle got stuck in an underwater dock and the other turtle popped him out from there. and then moved a rock where she was stuck in and left it there. after that day they never went by that rock

[KatieSmeltzer]

i don't know... i think my guy's kind of stupid. he has one of those floating basking docks that has suction cups... and he INSISTS on climbing up the side instead of using the nice gradual side.

[Undertoad]

Mine does that too Katie... I hear this furious scratching and by the time I walk over to the tank, he's all wet on the platform. One time I saw him not make it, and it was kinda hilarious, turtle all using all his strength to pull himself up and he loses it and flops back into the water.

[novroz]

The smartest thing my turtles have ever done...hmmm too many to write.

Kame : Shake my hand (putting her hand on top on my hand), come back home when she sees the front door is opened, follow me everywhere, and doesn't bite my hand tho I hand-feed her with less than 1cm food.

Kroten : Always looking for me when I let her out, chasing my dad around and actes like a puppy, getting out of her old tank, tilting her head when I talk to her and amazing sense of finding food

[theartbook35]

Tab-35 Turtles are not particularly smart as they are cold blooded reptiles. They do whatever it takes to survive and are gluttonous little pigs. They will eat themselves sick and will bite the hand that feeds them. They are turtles, and that is it. I have several tanks and four breeds of sliders. They are only lucky to belong to me.

Mikee, you qualify as a stop having fun guy.

I hate when people say reptiles are not smart. They may not be able to act like adult humans do, but turtle intelligence is very similar to the intelligence of an eight month old human infant. Very curious, heavily reliant on those who care for them, very observant of everything around them, and have special ways of saying what it wrong. It may not be impressive to you when a turtle figures out how to yank his basking dock off of the tank wall, but, it's impressive to us.

[theartbook35]

Typhoon did this interesting thing a long time ago.

I had to get my eyes checked, and my pupils were dilated, so, when I looked at them in their old tank, I had sunglasses on. Typhoon was looking at me the way she looks at a brand new person. Typhoon immediately freaked out when I got too close. When I took them off, she swam right to me and greeted me. Glasses go back on, she freaks out again. (It wasn't the color because she likes black). So, I kept putting my glasses on and off, and she was wary of me but not so nervous anymore. I came back a while later, with the sunglasses on, and she greeted me the way she normally does. Typhoon never warms up to a stranger that fast, and the way she greets me is different from any of the other people she knows. She gave me the same kind of "who are you?" attitude when I cut my hair recently. When I pet the tank wall, like I usually do, it finally occurred to her that I'm the same me I've always been.

What I appreciate about this is how many details they can notice, like, with the sunglasses, to them I guess it's a different pair of eyes. With the hair, same thing. And there is something about being face to face. Like, when turtles flutter, they are very particular about being face to face. To Typhoon, new eyes means new person, which is silly but somewhat true, but what is cool is that she notices those differences very easily.

Ty is also a bit of copycat. I tried this thing once, where, whenever I stared into their tank at her, I'd tilt my head to the side like a puppy does, ya know, something noticeable. She started doing the same thing about a week and a half after I started doing that. Not sure why she needs to copy me, I dunno if it's a child copying a parent thing, even though turtles are not raised by their parents in the wild, or if it's a curiosity thing. In any case, it's a lot of fun.

[theartbook35]

The smartest thing my turtles have ever done...hmmm too many to write.

Kame : Shake my hand (putting her hand on top on my hand), come back home when she sees the front door is opened, follow me everywhere, and doesn't bite my hand tho I hand-feed her with less than 1cm food.

Kroten : Always looking for me when I let her out, chasing my dad around and actes like a puppy, getting out of her old tank, tilting her head when I talk to her and amazing sense of finding food

Kame is the one who walks into your arms, right?

[bigG]

My female RES was taken outside as part of her daily schedule. Well, she wanted to go back inside the house. The sliding screen door was left partially opened and the glass sliding door was fully closed. She opened the screen door by standing on her two hind legs and pushed it open with her two front legs. I fully opened the screen door and opened the glass door a few inches. She stood up on her hind legs and proceeded to open the door. However, the door was much heavier and she couldn't open it. In fact, she kept falling backwards and landed on her back several times. She would flip over and try again. Although, one time her head was over the edge and she couldn't flip over. While on her back she used her legs to position herself and managed to slip off the edge onto the patio. It was only a few inches and there was a plastic mat on the patio. I opened the glass door to about four inches and she squeezed herself between the frame and the door. Once inside she continued her normal exploration of the house (which is what she really wanted to do and not go outside the house).

[novroz]

@TheArtbook I think all turtles have tendency NOT to like a stranger at first, Both Kame and Kroten also avoid being touched by a new person they just met.

And yeah not many people know this...turtles do greet us when we come home or come closer to their tank...I love seeing Kame waves her hand ups and downs as if saying 'mommy's home, I want to shake her hand' (it is Indonesian custom to kiss the hand of our parents when they got home from work). Kroten hasn't learnt how to shake hands yet but she would lift her body high enough to look at me.

YUP!! Kame is the one who walks to my hand to be pick up. She has new habit now She likes to be put on my shoulder, you know like carrying a baby.

BigG I think turtle has the sense of belonging, Mine are also coming back home when they see an open door.

[LadyMiracle]

I like this thread.
About a week ago I was having problems with my turtles not basking enough. So I took them out and put them in the old tank i had them in when we first bought them. You know, that plastic deathtrap with the little palm tree... anyways i put them in there under the basking lamp with a bit of water.
They did not want to be there and somehow they figured out if they get on top of one another and one stands on the other ones shoulders they can ALMOST reach over the top but not quite. They sure didnt stop trying though.

I actually have a video of my turtle trying to get onto his dock the side way without the ramp, his little arms were pushing him all the way up but then he just flipped over backwards into the water. it was funny.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ladymiracle/v3

I love my turtles.