What's the deal with turtles being slow?

I can understand tortoises not being busybodies, but I refuse to believe from cartoons and media that turtles are as slow as snails. Granted they are not the fastest animals in the world, but they're still pretty quick when they're startled. I should know, I kept a few red-eared sliders as a child. Probably one of the most dangerous turtles is the alligator snapping turtles, which have extremely fast biting reflexes.

I guess so. That preconception is based more on the assumption that all turtles are the same thing as tortoises, though. Consider that Aesop's tale is called "The Tortoise and the Hare'' and not "The Turtle and the Hare". Turtles can swim and actively hunt prey, so sure, they tend to move around a lot if you give them enough room. I get angry when I see people keeping adult red sliders alone in enclosures the same size as a shoebox.

The herbivorous land tortoises however, really are slow. In water, turtles don't have to worry as much about the weight of their shells, but with tortoises, moving around too much is just a waste of energy, and as such, they're easily one of the laziest animals on the face of the planet (after my dog, of course).

So if there's a take away message to be had from this, it's that tortoises really are slow. Water-dwelling turtles, not so much.

edited 24th Sep '12 2:02:46 PM by Vellup

I live right next to a lake. Turtles are, generally, when out of water, pretty slow. even catching one and letting it go they don't move quick. they like going slow and sitting in the sun.

I've seen the haul ass when they want to, but they dont want to very much. and their version of "hauling ass" is maybe walking speed for a person.

In water, their quite a bit quicker, especially when their diving off something.

edited 24th Sep '12 2:12:51 PM by Joesolo

Yeah, they're slow...just not as painfully, glacially slow as commonly believed/expected to be.

This seems like a thread more fitting in Yack Fest...

Man that's a fast turtle. The ones I saw were pretty slow, but I can see that being exaggerated.

"BOWSER!!!!! he is real!!!!!!!"

My cat is afraid of my tortoise.

Seriously, cats are pussies.

See, I never understood that. They're clearly not the same animal and one would have to be fairly moronic to confuse the two.

Legs =/= flippers.

The problem with both tortoises and turtles... they don't seem to fall in any of the above at first blush. It's probably why your cat his found an option (e) scary, not sure what to do with.

edited 27th Sep '12 4:52:29 AM by Euodiachloris

In some languages (like French) they use the same word, tortue; the qualifier terrestre or aquatique is only added when thought to be relevant.

Myself thought both English words to be synonyms until I read this thread.

edited 27th Sep '12 5:00:48 AM by Medinoc

Another difference is that tortoises are herbivores whereas turtles eat fish.

Not all turtles have flippers. Sea turtles have flippers.

Wait... There are turtles that are not tortoises but are not sea either? I suddenly understand jack shit.

Yeppers, the terminology is quite confusing. These turtles are known as terrapins, and include species such as soft-shelled turtles and red-eared sliders.

Hell, if it's a reptile and it's got a shell, I'm calling it a "turtle", proper terminology be damned. That's just me, though.

Ah, those are freshwater turtles. OK.

In the Netherlands, we also only have one word for tortoises and turtles: schildpad )or 'shelled toad', if you will).

It makes it a little annoying when discussing biology.

I can personally attest that at least some tortoises can hustle quite rapidly if they need to. They don't sprint and can't pull the acrobatic stunts similarly sized mammals can, but they compete fairly well with most comparable reptiles.

Also, for the non-native English speakers here: a "tortoise" is an creature that lives exclusively on land, generally in dry sandy places. "Turtle" refers to the ones the swim, but in common use it often refers to the smaller tortoises and sometimes it is used as a broad term for the entire group of shelled reptiles.

Gah, stop making me realize how wrong I am about shelled semi-aquatic reptiles!

Terrapins: semi-aquatic to almost fully aquatic freshwater turtles. However, no matter how well adapted for swimming, they're not usually as aquatic as sea turtles... for obvious reasons. Beware: nasty bites. Oh... and some are omnivores. Hence, those bites.

edited 27th Sep '12 4:03:34 PM by Euodiachloris

My understanding was that tortoises have stumpy feet with short toes, while freshwater turtles have webbed feet and sea turtles have the massive flippers. But then, I don't believe Australia has any tortoises, so I've never seen one.