A lot of people believe that turtles are not smart enough to learn turtle tricks and are pets that are more for show than anything else. The truth is that although their brains are a bit more primitive than say a dog, it is still possible to teach your them skills and tricks, but I say this knowing that it won't be a straight forward ride for the an owner that wants to invest time and effort to teach their turtle these new skills.
In fact there are three things which I think you will need to make it easier to teach your turtle new things and these are...
1) The age of the turtle
Young turtles are much easier to teach turtle tricks than older more mature ones. Unfortunately it's a case of not being able to teach old turtles new tricks because the older ones get stuck in... yep you guessed it, their old ways. Younger turtles from the ages of a year old are ideal to start practicing with and if your patient and make it a routine you'll notice the progress.
2) The species of turtle
Some species of turtle are smarter than others and trying to train them will be easier. A Snapping turtle for example will be much harder to train than a box turtle as box turtles are reasonably intelligent turtles. The majority of turtles can learn new things but some are just a little slower than others.
3) How good a bond you have with your pet
To really help your turtles development, you have to have a good bond with them. If your turtle is uncomfortable or scared of you it will be difficult to even get them to come out of their shells around you. If your turtle bites you when you try to touch it, this is also a clear sign that it does not trust you so in cases like this you have to take the time to build trust between you and your turtle and only then can you take things further by teaching them turtle tricks.
Still don't believe that it's possible to teach your pet turtle tricks? Visit http://www.petturtlecare.info/turtle-tricks which features evidence (video) of what you can achieve with your when you have the know how...
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