If you’re raising a pet tortoise then you likely love the animal very much and you want the animal to like you very much as well. One way to get your pet attached to you is to get it to bond with you
But can tortoises do this with humans? This article looks into it
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How to bond with your tortoise:
Tortoises can develop relationships with their owners and with different members of their family and doing a couple of things will help the animal develop a relationship with you
Here is how to build a stronger bond and relationship with your pet tortoise:
Interact with it:
Interacting with your pet will get it to spend more time with you and help it understand that although you are a stranger to it, you are not a threat to it and are actually a friendly being.
When spending time with your pet lay some clean towels on the floor and interact with your pet. Let your pet walk around on the towels, if it wants to it will walk towards you and let you touch it.
Your tortoise will lift its arm and scratch you if it wants your attention.
Spending a lot of time with you will get the animal used to your scent and your presence. You can handle your pet a little bit, regularly to get it to like you.
Gradually increase how much time your pet is with you daily.
If your pet is happy to do so then you can also let your tortoise eat food out of your hand, just make sure that your pet doesn’t bite your hand while you do this as this can be quite painful
Note: if your pet seems stressed out by this experience you may have to give it a break, put her back into its enclosure, and try to play with it some other time.
Feed your pet:
All animals love to eat, and feeding your pet food will get it to like you and get it used to being fed by you. If you can get your pet to eat out of your hands then this really means that the animal trusts you.
The food that you give your pet helps to create a positive association with you and maintaining eye contact with the animal while you do this is also advised.
Foods that you can give your pet tortoise include edible flowers, leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, and any healthy foods that your pet tortoise likes.
Have patience:
You may know that you aren’t going to harm your pet but your tortoise doesn’t know that you’re not going to harm it.
So, take your time when trying to get the animal to like and bond with you, it takes time for these animals to trust humans so don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t bond with you right away
Just be persistent and patient with the animal, continue spending time with it and loving it until it develops a bond with you
Some tortoises will be quick to get over their natural fear of you and some will just take longer.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Tortoise Shaking Head Side To Side, Why Is My Tortoise Shaking?, Tortoise Making Croaking Noise, Baby Tortoise Rocking Back And Forth, Tortoise Rocking Back And Forth, Tortoise Throwing Up White Foam, Tortoise Throwing Up Blood, Turtle Vomiting White, How To Discipline A Tortoise