What do Tortoises Eat
What Do Tortoises Eat?
When you decide on a particular type of tortoise to care for you will have a number of factors to consider if you want it to remain healthy.
One aspect to consider is what to feed your tortoise? This will to a large extent, depend on the natural environment in which your tortoise would live in the wild. For example some South American tortoises have a diet of soft fruits such as mangoes and flowers whereas desert tortoises have completely different nutritional needs. If you research in enough depth you cannot go wrong.
Most tortoises are herbivores and will require a mixed herbvorous diet plus some vitamin and mineral supplements and fresh water.
If you decide to keep your tortoise in an outside enclosure you will need to be aware of the natural plants growing in the environment. There are a number of plants and shrubs that are toxic to a tortoise (a full list is contained in my new book).
A short list of poisonous plants:
Amaryllis
Buttercup
Cherry (seeds)
Christmas cactus
Daffodills
Larkspur
Potato (leaves)
Tulips
And so on…..
Some Safe and Nutritious Plants for your Tortoise
Alfalfa
Banana
Broccoli
Carrots
Corn
Kale
Pumpkin
Soybean
Wheat
Zucchini
Be careful not to feed your tortoise too much from the cabbage family such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts as these can affect the thyroid function and calcium absorption in tortoises. Dont eliminate them all together but just be sparing.
Breeding Tortoises
Should you Breed Tortoises?
Firstly it is important you decide why you want to breed your tortoise? What do you want to do with any subsequent offspring? Importantly, how will you care for the extra little baby tortoises? There may be quite a few if you have a successful breeding! There is a whole chapter on breeding tortoises in the e-Book which you can download. It is a very involved and potentially expensive business and may be a lot more work and investment than you are willing or able to enter into. There is some thought that money can be made from breeding tortoises due to their precarious position in numbers in the wild. However, legally you are not allowed to sell hatchlings for some species until they are art least 4” long. This may take three or four years! I will add a few more articles here in future covering how to breed tortoises but I urge you to think carefully before you embark on this.
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Caring for your Tortoise
Caring for your Tortoise
What to feed your tortoise?
Tortoises are foraging creatures in the wild. They are herbivores, eating plants as their main diet. The natural environment for a tortoise can range from fertile areas where they are able to find food easily to other areas such as arid deserts where finding food is much more difficult.
In captivity tortoises can happily chomp on grasses where in the wild they would have eaten cacti. Ongoing research into the nutritional value of commercially available tortoise food will hopefully make the picture easier in years to come. However, for now it would be best to use fresh food rather than the commercially available pellet food. When deciding what and how often to feed your tortoise you must take into account the size age and species of tortoise we are caring for. As with all growing creatures the younger ones need a high nutritional value food due to growing and also their activity is greater when young.
Many naturally growing plants in your garden are fine for your tortoise to eat safely however, there are also some that are toxic for the tortoise, a full list is available in our new downloadable book “Top Experts Secrets to keeping and Caring for your Tortoise“. You can also feed your tortoise on other leafy green vegetables such as spinach, kale even carrots and chopped herbs such as parsley. They will enjoy potatoes, sweet potatoes and many really enjoy soft fruits such as strawberries and raspberries.
Whatever you decide to feed your tortoise on it must be nutritional and provide all the vital vitamins and minerals required to keep it healthy.
Always have fresh water available even for the desert habitat tortoise.
If your tortoise will not eat it may be due to a number of factors. It may be stressed following moving to a new home or habitat. A change in type of food may be the problem. Or an illness or injury even a parasite may have some impact on your tortoise’s appetite.
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Tortoise Health
How to spot a sick tortoise?
Occasionally your tortoise may appear unwell. If you are used to examining your tortoise for injury or ill health this will be easier to spot. Monitoring how much and often your pet is eating, moving etc will help you to understand how healthy your tortoise is.
If your tortoise is dehydrated it will have wrinkled skin inside the shell at each leg, its eyes may also be sunken. If you are in doubt you will have to consult your vet for advice. Occasionally misting a tortoise with lukewarm water will have beneficial results.
At times your tortoise may have other illnesses such as salmonella; this will need to be monitored by your vet. It is not always fatal to humans who are healthy but can cause severe illness. If your tortoise is a carrier it may have to be treated or euthanized by the vet.
How to prevent illness?
Always keep your tortoises enclosure clean. Clear all faeces daily and replace the substrate (floor covering) as often as possible. Replace water regularly and remove uneaten or contaminated food.
There are many and varied illnesses and parasites your tortoise may succumb to. If you want to find out the most common problems with your tortoise’s health read up in more detail. As knowledge will be your greatest ally. If you want to know more read our new Book.
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Setting up a Tortoise House
Setting up a Tortoise House
What to Consider Before Building a Tortoise House?
Making your first tortoise house is a bigger undertaking than many recognize! There are a number of factors to contemplate fully before you embark on building a tortoise house. You must take into account how big your enclosure or cage will need to be. Where to position it, how to heat it and clean it, how to make it secure so your tortoise cannot escape plus what you will need to place inside it to provide the best living environment for your tortoise.
Firstly, how large does your tortoise’s house need to be?
You must be aware of how large your tortoise may grow over the years. Although their growth may be slow, they do grow! They also like to explore and climb. Whilst in the wild tortoises do burrow and dig into dead leaves so you will need to consider this when planning your build. As a general rule for every 12” in size your tortoise will require 3 square yards. The average dimensions you need to take into account must also acknowledge the size your tortoise may grow to. This means if you have a tortoise of 12 inches you will need to have a home 9 ft long by 9 ft wide! This is a substantial size to prepare and build. There are many different types of cage or enclosure suitable for a tortoise house. Varying from commercially built ones, glass Vivariums and home built wooden cages or tortoise tables.
Tortoises like to hide and burrow so if you decide on an all glass Vivarium be sure to cover three of the sides to ensure the tortoise has places hide. They get very stressed if they are not allowed to hide out of site at times. If you build a wooden tortoise house, be sure to seal it with non toxic paint or it will absorb urine and waste that will harm your tortoise and you. Wire cages are not suitable for a tortoise house as the tortoise can harm themselves on the wire and also it does not hold the heat needed for the tortoise.
Make sure your tortoise house is secure. Vertical and high sided walls are best to prevent escape as a tortoise will climb if able to. Also be aware of furnishings inside the enclosure that the tortoise can use to climb over and up! The sides should be twice the height of your tortoise. For example if it is 6” long the walls need to be 12” high. More detailed information is contained in our 10 day e-Course if you subscribe and also in our new downloadable Book
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Types of Tortoise
There are many different species of tortoise for you to choose from but you have to be aware of the different requirements of each species before you decide to care for one in your home.
There are so many different types of tortoise for you to choose from when you are looking to buy one. However, there are a number of things to think carefully about before you decide on a specific species.
1. What is your lifestyle and are you able to devote not only time but hard cash to caring for a tortoise. The cost is not just the initial purchase of the tortoise and its enclosure but the ongoing costs such as lighting and heating, food and regretable vet fees should your tortoise become too ill for you to care for it yourself.
2. What species of tortoise would best suite your particular lifestyle and home? Do you have a reasonable large area in which to place the enclosure? Do you have any outside space where your tortoise is able to roam during the summer months? Do you have children or other pets?
3. Once you have decided on the specific species after doing some homework… what sort of enclosure will it require? Does it need to have specific plants or ‘furniture’ in the enclosure? For species such as the Pancake tortoise you will need to have some rock formations inside the enclosure for your pet to hide in. Specifically you should research the type of environment in which your chosen tortoise would live in its natural habitat in the wild and try to mimic this as far as possible.
4. Mixing different species of tortoise is also not advisable. If you wish to keep a few different varieties you will need to research which ones will live happily with tortoises of other species otherwise they could fight or even pass on illnesses and parasites. Different species have differing immuniities to certain diseases and parasites. .
5. It is also not a good idea to keep males and females of different species together in the same enclosure as the male tortoise does not differentiate between species. He will mate with an available female if given the chance! However, cross breeding is not often successful and it is not really ethical given the precarious position of many species.
For more information on choosing specific tortoises that are right for you and your family go to http://www.tortoisetips.com/learn2
A Brief Overview of Different Types of Tortoise
Small
• Angulated Tortoise or Bowsprit Tortoise (Chersina angulata)
• Pancake Tortoise (Malachochersus tornieri)
• Russian or Horsfield’s Tortoise (Testudo or Geochelone Horsefieldi)
• Hermann’s Tortoise (Testudo Hermanni)
• North African Tortoise or Moorish Tortoise ( Testudo Graeca)
• Greek Tortoise (Testudo Graeca Ibera)
• Egyptian Tortoise(Testudo Kleinmanni)
• Chaco Tortoise (Geochelone or Chelondoidis Chilensis)
• Bell’s Hingeback Tortoise (Kinixys Belliana)
• Serated Hingeback Tortoise (Kinixys Erosa)
• Texas Tortoise (Gopherus Berlandieri)
Medium
• Desert Tortoise or Californian Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
• Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus Flavomarginatus)
• Gopher Tortoise or Florida Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus)
• Red-Footed Tortoise (Geochelone or Chelonoidis Carbonaria)
• Yellow-Footed Tortoise or Forest Tortoise (Geochelone or Chelonoidis Denticulata)
• Burmese Black Tortoise and Burmese Brown Tortoise (Manouria Emys Phayeri and Emys Emys)
• Marginated Tortoise (Testudo Marginata)
• Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo or Geochelone Elongata)
BIG Tortoises
• Sulcata Tortoise (Geochelone Elegans)
• Galapagos Tortoise (Geochelone or Chelonoidis Elephantopus)
• Aldabran Tortoise (Geochelone or Aldabrachelys Gigantea)
Exceptional Tortoises
• Star Tortoise (Geochelone Elegans)
• Burmese Star Tortoise (Geochelone Platynota)
• Radiated Tortoise (Geochelone Asterochelys Geometricus)
• Leopard Tortoise (Geochelone Pardalis)
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Buy Tortoises
What to Look for and where to Buy Tortoises?
Choosing which species when you want to buy tortoises these days is much easier than it used to be. There are many breeders who are breeding lots of varying species including those that are endangered. How to choose which type to tortoise to buy is a matter of personal preference taking into account how large it will grow and how much room you will need to set aside or have for it to live in.
When you decide to buy tortoises that are captivity bred you are not taking from the wild habitat or preventing a wild creature from breeding in the wild. By choosing to buy a domestically bred tortoise you will be helping many breeders to keep those endangered species from becoming extinct. The captive-bred tortoise will be adapted to their captive environment and will therefore not be overly stressed when moved to a new environment which fulfils their needs. The captive bred tortoise is also easier to look after and care for they are less likely to suffer from ill health and stress as an animal caught in the wild and kept in an enclosure. Therefore choosing to buy a captive bred tortoise has many advantages over buying a wild caught one.
Finding and deciding to buy tortoises can be difficult. Try to search local papers or the web for appropriate breeders/suppliers.
Here are a number of questions to ask before deciding to buy tortoises, such as:
• How long the breeder has been breeding tortoises?
• How are the parents?
• How is their health?
• Can you view the parents as well as the offspring?
• Have they suffered from any diseases that could be passed on to their offspring?
• What sort of enclosure are they kept in?
Many times you will be able to find a suitable tortoise in a local pet shop but you will rarely be able to find out the answer to these questions as the breeders supplying the pet shops may not have given this information to the shop owner.
If you find a tortoise you wish to purchase check to see there are no obvious problems such as dehydration or parasites, check it is eating well and if necessary leave for a few days and go back to the shop to view the tortoise again.
Look out for:
• The tortoise is alert and bright. They should be aware of their environment.
• The eyes should be bright and clear. There may be fluid in the eye, this is normal. There should not be any crusty materiel there though. If the tortoise does not open their eyes do not buy it. This may be a sign of other health trouble.
• The nose should be clear of discharge and clean. Check the tortoise is breathing through its nose not just it’s mouth, this can indicate some respiratory distress.
• Look to see if there is any obvious sign of injury to the legs. Gently pull on the back leg, the tortoise should pull back.. if it doesn’t avoid.
• Look to see if there is any obvious sign of diarrhoea or parasitic infection.
• Look to see if the shell is hard, no signs of bleeding or cracked or severely damaged shells.
• Pick up the tortoise, it should feel heavy.
You may get a guarantee from the breeder or pet shop owner but this will only cover a short period of time. However, once you receive your tortoise if possible take it to a specialist vet who can have a proper look over it to check for injury or disease and you will be able to take the tortoise back to the breeder or shop owner for a refund. When looking to buy tortoises you have a number of different factors to take into account especially if you want to look after a tortoise successfully. You can find more information on this subject in my new book “Top Experts Secrets to keeping and Caring for your Tortoise”
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