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Burmese & Indian / Sri Lankan Star Tortoises
Other Stars Angulate Tortoise Misc. Pages
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Indian / Sri Lankan & Burmese Star Tortoises Personality, behavior & intelligence
Geochelone elegans. Photo courtesy of Philip Chan. A rock? Some people have described the Indian Star tortoise as having the personality of a rock. Auch! Of course, I don't agree with that. :O) Indian Star tortoises may not be the most outgoing and fearless tortoises, but they are charming, sweet and peaceful. They are easy to keep in small, mixed-sex groups. They do not pick up fights with each other, or engage in overly aggressive mating rituals. Ease of care In captivity, Burmese Star tortoises (Geochelone platynota) are said to be hardier, easier to breed, and more cold tolerant than Indian / Sri Lankan Star tortoises (Geochelone elegans). Further, Sri Lankans are said to be hardier than Indian Stars. Behavior & personality My Burmese and Sri Lankan Star tortoises' behavior and habits seem to be very much the same. They all like same foods, and they are all active during same times of day. All my Stars have adjusted to my routine handling of them, for example, bathing and moving them between indoor and outdoor pens. If my Burmese and Sri Lankan Star tortoises get alarmed about something in their surroundings, they pull in their heads and freeze, or just freeze, until they are sure the danger has passed. My Sri Lankans are very quick to pull in their heads and limbs. My Burmese often just freeze without pulling their heads in when they detect a possible danger (usually a moving person nearby). My Burmese and Sri Lankan tortoises are busy wandering and eating mornings and afternoons, and the rest of the day they are often hiding or sleeping. When the Stars are not eating or basking, they all like to hide under plants or in their hide boxes. None of them are diggers or burrowers, and they aren't climbers either. During the spring, summer, and fall my Stars spend days in their outside enclosures. Outdoors, each one of them has his or her favorite plant to hide under. They do not dig into the dirt. They all drink from their water bowls occasionally, inside and outdoors, but none of them soak themselves (even if provided with large enough bowls). However, they do seem to enjoy the warm soaks I give them. Because mine live on a dry substrate when indoors, I bathe them every 1-3 days depending on their age. During the winter months when they live indoors and spend a fair amount of time under the hot basking lights, I like to mist them on and off with warm water. Among my Burmese and Sri Lankan Stars, it's hard to say if one species is more outgoing than the other. Often, it seems that my Burmese Stars are more active, but other times it looks like my Sri Lankans are. Still, I do see personality differences among individual Star tortoises. Some are just braver and more lively than others, regardless of their species (Burmese or Sri). Also, males may be more active than females. My shyest Star tortoise is a Sri Lankan, and she's very timid. She will retreat into her shell at the smallest commotion around her. When she realizes it's me holding her, she will push her head out a bit to see what's going on. On the other hand, one of my most active Star tortoises is a Sri Lankan (male) as well. Another one of my bravest and most trusting Star tortoise is a Burmese. He can be quite active, especially outside. He likes to run around in his outdoor pen checking different places and the available buffet. Though, he will stop on his tracks and freeze when there is sudden movement in his visual field. He likes to stick his head way out and eagerly wiggle his little legs when I'm holding him. He seems to know good things come from being carried (I always use the same routines). A nice warm bath, good food after a bath, or a sunny day outside. :O) * * * Are tortoises smarter & more social than we think? Ask tortoise keepers about tortoise intelligence, and they will excitedly tell you stories and observations of their tortoises' cleverness and social-like behavior. Are these tortoise owners 'blinded' by their attachment to their wards (and giving them human-like attributes), or are tortoises really smarter and more social than previously believed? The learning abilities or reptiles have not been studied much, until now. University of Vienna's Department of Cognitive Biology (Department für Kognitionsbiologie Universität Wien, COGBIO) consists of several research groups and labs, including the new Cold-blooded Cognition Lab. Researchers at this lab are interested in all aspects of reptile cognition. Projects include research in spatial perception, gaze following, social learning, visual perception and categorization. Most of the lab's work is done on Redfoot tortoises which are less timid than Star tortoises. Tortoises are often described as asocial or unsociable animals. In other words, tortoises are said to avoid the interaction, other than mating, with others. It's believed by many that they do not enjoy or need the company of other tortoises. As a solitary species, they are not expected to learn from simply observing other tortoises. However, in the detour test, all observer tortoises reached their goal while none of the non-observers did. The detour test provided the first evidence of social learning in a solitary species. Gaze following is believed to be a result of social living. Again, as solitary animals, tortoises are not expected to have this ability. Yet, the test findings showed that it is present in tortoises. Links
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