are my turtles mentally challenged or is my mum mean when she says they are...?

Question

...just cause they swim around erratically sometimes, one has lots of energy and swims about and into things, the other just curls up in her shell.... are they just odd? how smart are turtles anyway?

Answer 1

turtles are smart animals like humans all turtles have a different personality.

your turtles sound cute

Answer 2

Escape behavior is triggered by one of two things, usually.

A. Small habitat. This is unfortunately very common- these guys need BIG habitats and we usually crowd them into small tanks.

B. Glass. Turtles have no idea of what glass is, like many other animals. They cannot figure out why they cannot pass through it, or what is blocking their movements. It causes some turtles a LOT of stress. Try putting something on the glass in the place it spends most of its time to see if that helps. (BIG glass tanks are less stressful than small ones.)


How smart is a turtle? Determining IQ in animals is tough. Turtles can solve the problems their natural environment throws at them, and some turtles can solve mazes, etc. as quickly as lab rats can.

Th problem here is not IQ, however, but a strong set of survival instincts that the artificial habitat they are living in now causes conflicts with. In nature, they can find good food and hiding places. They can hide from predators and find new territories if the need. In captivity, they can't do hardly ANYTHING interesting to them unless we put a lot of time and effort into their habtitats.

Answer 3

This sounds perfectly normal to me. They're probably just out and about getting some exercise. Don't forget... turtles are the cows of the cold-blooded world. They don't have a reason and "do not care weather or not they care." What kind do you have??

We've got a stinkpot turtle and, although a water turtle, he usually just hangs out in his lair. Now and then he'll toddle across the bottom of his 150 gallon tank (spoiled critter, I know). I'd love to get a cooter (they seem to be more sociable) and my boyfriend wants a map or Texas map and daydreams about getting a matamata.

Answer 4

Your turtles sound fairly typical to me. Perhaps you need to make sure they aren't being kept in an area of your house where they're getting stressed out or frightened - eg where a lot of people or noise could scare them.
Reptiles have a fairly basic brain, which acts more on instinct than logic or thought. Don't expect them to be intellectuals. So long as they are healthy, they are doing what turtles do.

Answer 5

They sound like your typical turtles to me...One thing to think of is...

Is the aquarium or container they are in big enough for them. They might need a bigger one....Might be their way of saying hey I need room here..expecially if one is a head banger and the other is the total opposite. Maybe the other one that is curled up in his shell is scared to come out...he might get kicked in the head

Answer 6

acually alot of people think they r dumb but thye been around for over 3 million years ,when i was a young kid 13 years old i raised turtles i knewn were a nest was where they hatched i always gather up a big hand full raised them til they were big enough to make it on there own .i have one turtle story to tell i caught a big mfing snapping turtle in abliene,texas sucker was big close to 60 pounds donated it to the zoo ,zoop keeper came said he never seen a wild turtle that big..

Answer 7

they are reptiles, don't put too much into it.