How Tortoises Communicate: Tort Sounds, Scents & Posture | Tortoise Owner (2024)

With tortoises becoming such popular pets, we believe it’simperative that people know everything they can about these unique creatures.One of the toughest things to understand about tortoises is how theycommunicate. Not only with us, but with each other and other animals.Understanding this will go a long way in helping you bond with your pet andprovide a great environment for her.

So, how do tortoises communicate? Tortoises use a combination of vocal, visual clues, and smells to communicate with other tortoises. They may also communicate through touch, either by exploring with their mouths, bumping into something, or stepping on it to feel under their feet.

Tortoise communication is incredibly complex. Scientistsstudy wild tortoises to help tortoise-keepers communicate with and understandtheir pets better. It is believed that pet tortoises aren’t truly domesticated;they are more like wild tortoises, including how they communicate, sounderstanding the wild side of your tortoises can be a huge help in making themhappy.

Read on to find out how!

Solitary Tortoises Are Still Social Creatures

Not long ago, people believed that tortoises were completelysolitary animals. They thought tortoises kept to themselves unless it wasmating season.

While this is partially true, it turns out that tortoisesare actually incredibly social creatures. In fact, they need social interactionto feel fulfilled and happy. Sure, they still primarily live in solitude, butwild tortoises have shown scientists and reptile-keepers some of their secretsto social prowess.

We’re still trying to unravel the whole mystery of tortoisecommunication, but now we’ve got a pretty good idea what’s going on.

Tortoises Can Make Friends

It’s not likely you’ll see any wild parties breaking out inyour tortoise tank, but don’t be surprised if your torts spend a lot of timenear one another. These nearly silent critters aren’t simply existing in thesame general location.

As seen in wild tortoises, captive torts often grow attached to their tank mates or pals from other enclosures. They enjoy spending time near one another, but it’s more than simply being close.

Every small movement means something to tortoises. Even ifyou can’t understand what a stretched neck or a subtle movement of the tailmeans, your tort’s best buddy sure does. It seems like tortoises basicallyignore one another or just tolerate the presence of their tank mate, but that’ssimply not true.

All those subtle movements, the head bobs, the shifting inplace… these are all tortoise signals. In fact, your tortoises might even havecreated a body language all their own. This is especially true for tortoiseswho have grown up together and who were introduced very young.

Tortoises Have Personalities That Can Clash

As tortoise lovers, we know that each tortie has apersonality all his own. It’s part of why we love them so much. Yet, manynon-reptile lovers insist that torts don’t have feelings, emotions, desires, orpersonalities. But we can prove that wrong right now.

Have you ever introduced your tortoise to a new friend? Ormaybe you’ve tried to let your tort meet your friend’s tort. Did they get alongright away?

Some tortoises are naturally outgoing, social, and curious.Some, on the other hand, are shy and reserved. Others are just plain cranky andwant to be left alone. Just like in people, those three personalities intortoises simply do not mix!

So, if tortoises didn’t have personalities and they didn’tcommunicate, why wouldn’t they all simply get along right from the start? Thefact that tortoises can be picky about who they share their space with showsthat tortoises do have individuality and that they do have a preference forwhich other individuals they spend time with.

Tortoises Grow Relationships Over Long Periods of Time

Tortoises have incredibly long lives. They move slowly inpretty much everything they do. This includes making friends and developingbonds. They also have incredible memories, so if their tort buddy slights themin some way, they may actually hold a grudge for a while.

Tortoises are in no hurry to make changes, so theirrelationships develop at a snail’s pace, as they say. They take time to get toknow one another. They will each watch the other, see how they behave, sniffout the marks they leave, and even listen to their vocalizations that humansmay not be able to hear at all.

In the wild, tortoise populations even develop their ownhierarchies. If they couldn’t communicate, there is no way they’d be able tohave these complex social structures. This is demonstrated in many ways, butthe most obvious is between males.

Tortoises that fight will remember the outcome of eachbattle. If a smaller, younger, weaker tort is beaten by a bigger, stronger male,he’ll respond in one of two ways. He will either cower in a submissive orhiding pose when the victor comes around again, or he’ll run away. If tortoisescouldn’t communicate or develop relationships, none of this would happen.

The Dance of Love – Mating Signals in Tortoises

Some humans say that dancing is the language of love, butdid you know that it’s the same for tortoises? Their mating rituals arecomplicated and show a level of communication that’s surprising.

Everything starts with that sexy little head bob. Well, at least he hopes his head bob looks sexy to his lady friend. He’ll stick his neck way out to impress her and bob his head up and down. It’s a little like, “Hey, baby! Hey, look at me!” He also adds in an intense stare, pleading with his eyes.

Whether female torts think this is sexy or they simply likegetting a good laugh, we may never know. For whatever reason, this nonverbalinvitation works! Once courtship really starts, things can get a bitcrazy-looking, but this is just what tortoises do. No reason to be alarmed.Believe it or not, that old girl can hold her own. If she’s not into him, he’llfind out pretty quickly.

And that is, once again, another way we know tortoises cancommunicate quite well without words.

We should probably add here that the mating dance isn’t allquiet. Some males will resort to moaning and grunting to get the female’sattention. This isn’t something all males will do, but it’s just anotherexample of the wide range of communication tortoises are capable of.

The Boop (Tortoise Nose Touching)

Many tortoises will display what we like to call the boop,but scientists just call it nose touching. This is a gentle touching of snoutswhich we like to announce with a softly spoken “Boop!” when we see ithappening.

Sometimes the participants will stay in the boop positionfor a while and other times it’s just a quick touch and off they go. Don’t letthe quickies fool you. The boop is never accidental.

Touching noses is a familiar touch, one that signals anumber of feelings and intentions too complex for silly humans to work outcompletely. However, it’s clear that the nose boop is not an aggressive act.It’s likely akin to a quick hello or a sweet peck on the cheek before you headoff to work. Or maybe it’s more like a handshake if you’re not much of akisser.

Whatever the true intention, the boop is reserved forpeaceful times and between two torts who are getting along. That’s not to saythe day can’t start with a boop and end with a crazy fight over the water dish.Tortoises are prone to cranky moods just like humans!

Since tortoises noses are so sensitive, they use them totouch everything and everyone. Sometimes it’s to introduce themselves, othertimes it’s to check the other tortoise’s intentions. Believe it or not, curiousand social butterfly-type torts are more likely to touch noses frequently. Morereserved, shy, or timid torts will often try to avoid it.

Raising the Shell is a Sign of Tortoise Dominance

If you had an awesome suit of armor on your back, you’dprobably show that sucker off every chance you had. Tortoises do this all thetime. Part of their communication comes in the form of raising their shells ashigh as possible. This helps show their size and strength. It’s oftenaccompanied by elongating the neck and tail, too.

This is usually a show of dominance. It’s almost a dare toanother tortoise, taunting them to “Come at me, bro!” Sometimes thisposture is simply an act of curiosity. Your tort might be trying to get abetter look at something far away.

How to Communicate with Your Tortoise

Now that you know some of the standard tortoisecommunication methods, you can use that knowledge to get better acquainted withyour little buddy. To do so, you should adopt some of his behaviors. Why?Because it’s pretty unlikely your tort will ever learn to speak human language,so the communication gap needs to be bridged by you.

• Be gentle with shy tortoises. If you tap on yourtortoise’s shell, pick her up unexpectedly, or flip her over, she’s going tosee this as an act of aggression. This is how a rival would treat her in thewild, so don’t be that guy.
• Use slow movements. Fast movements usuallyindicate aggression to tortoises. A charging male will come at his rivalquickly, ready to flip him over. Take your time approaching your tortoise andmove slowly.
• Breathe steadily. Tortoises pay attention tobreathing; it’s a normal part of their communication. If you’re breathingheavily, it may sound like a hiss to them which is often a sound of fear orsubmission. If you’re breathing heavily and your body is heaving, your tort maymisinterpret this as a challenging posture and become defensive.
• Do the boop! Make this a soft, gentle touch onyour tort’s shell, legs, or head. It shows curiosity and gentleness. You may besurprised with a sweet little boop back. Just don’t touch your tortoise’s nosewithout an invitation. Her nose is sensitive and you could inadvertently hurther.
• You can bob your head, too. Bobbing isn’t just amating ritual. Tortoises often slowly bob their heads when they are relaxed.You can show this to your tortoise to express relaxation and friendliness. Ifyour tort is looking at your face, you can bob your head. If your tort is moreinterested in things down on his level, you can still mimic the head bob byusing your fist or your thumb. It’s seriously adorable when they bob back—giveit a try!

You Can Talk to Your Tortoise

Though it’s not likely your tortoise will learn a lot ofverbal commands, you can still talk to him and he’ll probably understand you.Since torts use their own audible communications, such as vocalizations andbreathing, they can definitely hear you.

If you want to talk to your tort, you can start to slowlyacclimate them to human language by using tortoise language from the list abovewhile also saying human words. You can teach a tortoise their name and they mayeven learn some simple commands like “come” or “here” toget them to stand still.

The important thing to remember is that tortoises are slowand steady animals. Keep talking to them and they will listen. You can’t forcethem to respond, but don’t get frustrated if they don’t seem to care. They reallyare listening to you; they just don’t have a lot to say back!

Conclusion

Tortoise communication is so complex that scientists arestill uncovering their secret language. They’ve come a long way inunderstanding tortoise communication by watching wild tortoises. You can reapthe benefits of all those studies by following the guide above. Showing yourtort that you understand and can speak some of their language will help themfeel safe with you. It may even help speed up the bonding process. And who knows?Maybe one day soon, your tortoise will boop your nose when you least expect it.