A Warning From The Web-Master

"Now, let's all keep in mind turtles aren't like dogs, when you obtain your turtle it is best to just put it into its habitat and let it live its life while you watch from afar. I'm not saying playing with your turtle (very gently!) is bad, I am saying these pets are best for 'looking at' rather than 'touching at'.

It's completely ok to pet and play with your turtle, in fact it's vital to bonding, but keep the extreme training (like rolling over...) to an every-once-and-awhile, and activity's like racing should only be done occasionally, because no one wants to stress their pet out!"

You can take advantage of the turtle's natural curiosity and teach them a trick or two, of course you will have to reward them with a tasty treat!

Come When Called
All tortoises and turtles hear mostly low tones, so a bell might not be the best choice when it comes to calling your turtle. Remember, like all animals, they cannot understand words, only syllables and tone. You could yell "Who Wants Turtle Soup!" and he'll come running looking forward to getting food.

After you say your line, or even play a low instrument, when your turtle looks at you (In the eyes, not the treat in your hand) say/play the call again and feed its reward!

My family and I have gotten in the habit of saying "Grub Steak!" in a deep/low tone, and it immediately gets the attention of all the turtles. Of course they were rewarded for responding to my voice with a juicy grub!

Eat From Hand
When your turtle trusts you enough, and feel somewhat comfortable in your presence, you can start teaching it to eat from your hand. First hold one of your box turtles favorite treats like sliced tomato, banana or a fresh dandelion, up to his nose. This may not work at first, or ever, every turtle is deferent after all!

After you got your turtle to trust the food you offer, let's get him eating from the palm of your hand! Make your hand taut (no lose skin) so your turtle cannot accidentally bite you, than place a treat like banana into your hand. If that's not enough fun for you, try putting the banana further up your hand, even on your wrist, than make your hand like a ramp so your turtle will have to crawl up your hand to reach the yummy treat!

The More Extreme
Ok, so we have basic training down, eventually you can even tell your turtle to stay, or fetch maybe ... Anything is possible if you have the right technique! Another trick a turtle is capable of learning is 'Lean Back (On Hind Legs)', also known as 'Begging', and that can lead to a 'Back Flip', and from there your turtle can 'Roll Over', that's one heck of a combo-trick! Let your imagination run wild and you can come up with tricks like Spin Around, or Bow Down, etc.

These tricks can take YEARS for a turtle to learn, and please, PLEASE keep in mind, the more extreme the trick the more stressful/unhealthy it is for your turtle. Things like this, if not performed properly can really be bad for your turtle. Simply flipping your turtle onto its back so it "learns" Roll Over is cruel, and when it comes to show-style tricks, just remember the turtle doesn't understand as easily and quickly as a dog would, so don't treat it like one.

Turtle's aren't really the fastest animals on earth, but box turtles can run pretty fast when there's a reward at the finish line!

The Race Track And Rules
There are many ways to build a race track, but the best way for turtles is to draw a large circle on the ground, with a smaller circle in the center. The owners of the 'contestants' put their turtles in the center ring facing out, then the owner runs outside of the 2 rings, doing whatever they can to convince their turtle to exit the rings as quickly as possible, and get to their owner. No one can go inside the circle, but owners are allowed to call or bring favorite foods to bribe turtles to come faster. First one to cross the outer circle wins!

Telling The Contestants Apart
If you are worried people will get their turtles confused, or if there is a crowd that wants to keep up with the action, you can try attaching a Turtle Leash to each turtle's shell and attach a balloon at the end of the string. Each turtle gets a different color balloon, the owners could even have matching bracelets!

For Turtles Who Start Too Early
You could avoid this by telling the owners to put the turtle in the ring all at the same time, but sometimes your turtle will take a large step after touching the ground before the other turtles. Try getting a long piece of cardboard and make it into a circle (the size of the center ring) and place all the turtle inside the ring and ring of cardboard. When it is time to start, quickly remove the cardboard and let the race begin!

What About In Reverse!
Why not put the treats on the inside and the turtles on the outside? Whoever gets to the dinner plate first wins! Of course this doesn't involve the owner as much as the other method does, this could be a good activity for those turtles that don't want to come when called, but love to eat!

This can be a healthy and fun activity for your Box Turtles! Set up an obstacle course in an enclosed area with sticks and water pits between them and the exit/treat at the end!

The "Enclosed" Part
Your turtle's permanent habitat should already have rocks and sticks that it can climb on every day, but if you want to give your turtle some real excursive you can get a large, long box (or several boxes taped together) and fill it with substrate and the many obstacles. At the end is freedom (Back into the main habitat for a nice, hidden away nap), or a tasty treat.

Building The Track
Gather up some cardboard boxes, or if you already have an enclosed area such as a flower bed or even a book case on its back, and fill it with some substrate. Do not make the substrate too deep or your turtle may decide to take a nap instead. Add many rocks, sticks, large 'road-blocks', and deep holes with or without water. I would recommend not adding anything your turtle can hide under/inside, like logs or pots, because this will make your turtle feel it doesn't need to escape and decide to camp out for awhile.

The Reward!
When your turtle, or the first of two racing turtles reaches the end, you can have a favorite treat waiting for them, or an opening in the obstacle course to freedom!

TOP TIPS:
-If you provide a treat at end your turtle will eventually associate such surroundings to a yummy bite to eat, so you will have to make the obstacle course harder every time!

If you have ever owned a Red Eared Slider you may have heard about a device with holes drilled into a PVC pipe, suspended in the air with string above the tank with each end closed off, and filled with juicy worms. The worms will slowly wiggle along inside the pipe until they find a hole and fall into the water bellow to be munched by a hungry turtle.

This can also be done with other turtles and tortoises. I have tested a few ideas I came up with, and the only one that worked and was easy and fun to do I would like to share with you. It is a lot of fun to watch your turtle try to figure it out!

The Box (Turtle) Maze
Have a few spare cardboard boxes lying around? Why not tape them together, cut little doors between them, and stick a juicy worm in a few rooms? Make sure the boxes are high enough so your turtle cannot escape, and the door ways are large enough for your turtle to pass freely. In 2 or 3 of the dead-end rooms place a worm or any live, slow-moving bug that your turtle can come across and enjoy.

TOP TIPS:
-You could place a thin layer of substrate in the boxes just in case your turtle decides to go to the bathroom. Not too much or your turtle may decide it wants to sleep instead of explore, or the worm may disappear from sight.

-If you have a bookcase lying around you can use this as the main structure and build the walls with piece's of cardboard taped down, or boxes and other heavy tall objects (Things your turtle cannot knock over).