Other Turtle Discussion :: whoooa... turtle dreams?

[Hoooneylynn]

So at 3:00 a.m. I got up and turned the light on, and karlyn had her eyes closed, and was kinda digging in her rocks, and she kept swinging her head back and forth and poking at the rocks! I know we just discussed the thin eyelids, but I really think she was sleeping... she did that for thirty seconds until she opening her eyes. She just stopped and stared at me and then went back to the other side of the tank. It was creepy. Karlyn doesnt go on that side of the tank at night usually, because her night light is on the other side, and she always sleeps right by it. I know she keeps her eyes closed when she goes up for a breath, but this was crazy! It was like.... sleep "swimming" lol... turtles must have brain activity while they sleep... is it possible that they can dream? has anyone read about any research that was done? I wonder if they could use electrodes to measure brain activity with a turtle!

[Muirner]

My Ashley was doing that the other day on the dock, she was moving her hands and legs, while in the superman pose, i tried for a vido but my cam was dead.

[steve]

My RES often make biting motions when they are sleeping and in water. When I had river rocks (am not using them right now) they would sometimes dig through them as well.

[Hoooneylynn]

steve, do you think they are dreaming?

[sneakyburrito]

i would think any animal/creature with a brain could dream. if you have a brain, you have brain activities

[steve]

I honestly don't know enough of the topic for an educated guess. I like to think they do, though it would probably be on very basic and instinctive level.

[Hoooneylynn]

I think they can dream of objects as well as instinctively like digging in the rocks... I think that because they have the ability to recognize food containers, actions, and of course us, they should have the ability to somewhat dream about it... Thats what Im saying MR sneaky, lol, I wish we could measure brain activity of our turts! Steve do you know if theres any place that they study captive RES? That would be awesome to study them, and research things like that. If human brain waves can be measured, I would think that a turts can. BUT I dont know if it would be harmful.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I remember hearing someplace many yrs ago that turtles are the smartest reptiles, but obviously nowhere near the IQ of, say, a dog. Not sure where that statistic originated from, but it makes sense to me considering they are one of the only animals on earth that did not technically evolve into anything over time. They are fundamentally the same now as they were a million yrs ago.

Their metabolism is really slow, so maybe they dream in "slow-motion?"

Sometimes I hear Sheba digging in her rocks at night too, but I don't know if she is awake when she is doing it because she sleeps on the mainfloor & I am upstairs. I know that if I try to catch her in the act, I will wake her up just by walking down the stairs.

[Jayqualin]

Haw haw! :lol: I saw yesterday Peanut sleeping balancing only with the tip of his tail. Weird dreams :P Then when I came close, he woke up and saw his imaginary friend (his own reflection) in the tank which made him jump.