The Cold Blooded News - Vol.29, No.1, Jan. 2002

		Archives of The Cold Blooded News The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society Volume 29, Number 1; January, 2002

Snake Hearing? Where have frogs gone? T. rex Relative World's Smallest Lizard Ask the Vet Monstrous Croc Disposal Crocodiles It's a nice style Odor Cues by a Lizard Tortoise & Onion Next Issue February 2002 Previous Issues About the Cold Blooded News CHS Home Page		The Tortoise and The Onion by Ray Pawley Reprinted from the Tortuga Gazette, the newsletter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club, Vol.37, No.8, October 2001. Originally published in the International Turtle and Tortoise Society Journal No. 6, Nov/Dec 1968. Tortoises, especially the huge Galapagos species, Testado elephantopus, are known for their placid, slow, and plodding ways. We were wondering if the Galapagos tortoise is as slow at tasting differences in food as in detecting differences in environment. To test this we peeled an onion to resemble the texture and color of an apple. If our tortoises would eat onions, there would be an excellent chance of adding further food value to their diet. To find out, we first offered an apple to one of our big lazy brutes. With a slow and deliberate nonchalance, the big tortoise munched down huge mouthfuls with apparent satisfaction. At this point we substituted the onion. To our surprise, the tortoise didn't even slacken its pace! We were elated over the experiment and pleased to see how much the tortoise relished his new food. Just as we turned to leave, the tortoise suddenly stopped right in the middle of a chew. It blinked its eyes, suddenly opened its mouth as wide as possible, and proceeded to belch in a most impolite and loud manner! Visitors in the building flocked over to the tortoise enclosure wondering what creature could be making such unimaginable sounds. We learned two things: Galapagos tortoises are decidedly slow in perceiving new tastes in food... even the most unpleasant ones. Onions were definitely out as a Galapagos tortoise dietary possibility. It was weeks before that tortoise would go near another apple unless the red peeling was left on to distinguish it from a possible onion. Although slow, tortoises certainly are not stupid! Copyright © 1998 - 2006, Colorado Herpetological Society. All rights reserved.

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