r/aww • u/abhitchc • 5d ago

I fed this female box tortoise some raspberries at the beginning of the summer. Now, she follows me all over the garden, and visits me almost daily looking for handouts.

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u/IAmBadAtInternet 5d ago

Turtles have nerve endings in their shells. Give them shell rubs. They love it.

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u/BongWaterOnCarpet 5d ago

Hold a soft toothbrush out for them to rub on, they love it!!

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u/RadicalLynx 5d ago

Imagine how good it must feel to finally itch that spot you can't reach yourself

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u/99RedBalloon 5d ago

i feel like i scratched a good itch just reading this

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u/abhitchc 5d ago

Thanks @BongWaterOnCarpet

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u/PurpleT0rnado 5d ago

Hey OP are you in Virginia? I ask because that turtle looks like its shell has been scalloped. There is a special 100-year project out of one of the Universities here to count and record sitings of these box turtles.

You could be a citizen scientist volunteer!

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u/Alternative_Egg_7382 5d ago

If you fix some soft hairbrushes in place turtles will move back and forth through them like a carwash

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u/whoaminow17 4d ago

this was a delight, thank you!! i'm now neck-deep in tortoise/turtle youtube haha

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u/hamdandruff 5d ago

There is a turtle at one of the nearby ponds that I had been trying to figure out what species it was exactly. Hangs out at the corner with the smaller species that fight over the one log they have to bask on but they got eyes like hawks and dip seeing you a mile away so between that and all the scum it was hard to tell what it was exactly.

Must have caught it resting because it was right at the edge and I crouched down to swirl some scum out of the way. Turned out it’s way bigger than I thought so that already ruled out everything but a common snapper. Startled it a little but I scratched some gunk off of it and it seemed to like it! It untucked its head and moved backwards closer and raised its shell above the water more. Head stayed under the water and wasn’t craning towards me or anything like ‘I’m positioning to bite your hand off’ like I’m used to.

That’s just what it does now instead of swimming away so I’d like to think it enjoys it. Or it just knows I’m not/can’t hurt it and I’m just annoying it.

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u/Numerous-Stranger-81 5d ago

Confirm, my turtle likes having her shell scratched.

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u/sara_bear_8888 5d ago

Wait, really? I wonder if it feels similar to when we rub our fingernails or toenails? I love learning little facts like this.

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u/NoDoctor4460 4d ago

“Turtles and tortoises aren’t in their shells, they are their shells” - saw this tweeted by a biologist years ago and it really stuck with me. Their ribcages are built into it, lots of nerves etc.

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u/BraveOthello 5d ago

Likely very similar, the scutes on their shells are also keratinized tissue

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u/nikiichan 5d ago

Oh gosh that is extremely saddening.... I once saw the cutest turtle and people had carved their names on her shell (TJ <3 JP) and that sorta stuff, there were just SO MANY scratches. I had just assumed it was numb.

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u/Realistic_Salt_389 5d ago

I did not know this! Amazing.