What is the smartest tortoise out there? I heard that this reptile can be very intelligent.?

Question

I'd want to buy a tortoise for a pet. If you can suggest which one is the most friendly, personal and smartest out there I can buy. Thank you a bunch

Answer 1

Often the wood turtle of north american (Glytemys insculpta) is touted to be one of the most intelligent turtles. There have been experiements where it can go through a maze. The most interesting fact about the wood turtle is that it has been seen stompuing the ground trying to attract earthworms to come out. Then it would eat them up. This appears to be the only turtle that does this to hunt earth worms.

Wood turtles are semi-aquatic. They need mostly land and some water to soak in. You can buy these prized turtles from breeders.

You can scan http://www.kingsnake.com turtle classifieds for them. Theyare hard to find for sale, and may be illegal in certain jurisdictions to keep them if they are native.

http://www.woodturtle.com/ This is the best wood turtle website.

Answer 2

The North American Wood turtle is tested to have an IQ similar to a rat... but it is really tough to measure animal IQ fairly. Heck, it is tough enough to measure Human IQ fairly!

It is my humble opinion that the South American Red-footed tortoise is both smart and personable. I enjoyed mine and most people I know with one feel the same way.

Red-foots are also not too bad in the care and cost departments, and relatively easy to find captive bred.

Answer 3

I had a tortoise that would follow us around the yard and sit in our laps in the grass. I swear it thought it was a dog.
I highly recommend Russian Tortoises, they are vegetarians, and Chinese Box Turtles, they eat worms, goldfish, snails, as well as fruit and veg.
I don't know about their intellegence, but they stay small and make great pets.
What ever you choose, get a book about them. Books have to be fact checked while anyone can (and does) write anything on the internet.

Answer 4

I don't know where you live, but I have 3 California Desert tortoises. They are very smart. One of them wags its tail when he sees me. They are great pets.