TORTOISES CARESHEET

The red foot tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria) and yellow foot tortoise (Geochelone denticulata) come from very humid climates and need to have more humid conditions. Keep in mind also that there are tortoises that come from temperate climates and thus may hibernate for a certain period of time. There is a vast array of shapes and colors from which to choose from and remember make sure you do your research on which tortoise you want to get because some tortoises like the spur thigh can reach gigantic proportions. Tortoises are very passive and never bite. They do tend to ram other tortoises in an effort to exert dominance over the other animal. If there is an actual battle the objective is to get the opponent on its back. Some tortoises have a sort of protruding wedge under their neck which is actually an extension of the plastron and is used for this purpose. The defeated tortoise must right itself up or die. Care should be taken not to keep incompatible males in the same enclosure.

GENERAL CARE
Tortoises although slow need spacey enclosures in which they can roam and forage for food. A good place to keep a tortoise is in a back yard. Tortoises love to dig and will if given the chance build extensive underground tunnels so make sure there is also an underground barrier preventing your tortoises escape. If you decide to keep your tortoise outside make sure that the weather is favorable. Desert species should only be kept outside if the weather is dry and vice versa with those species that come from more humid environments. It is extremely important to provide shade and even more so that they have immediate access to it. Tortoises are not very good at regulating their body temperature and will walk under the sun until they die even if there is shade close by! Make sure that half of the yard or pen has total shade. If kept indoors heat should be supplied in the form of a heat lamp. The temperature in the enclosure should be kept at a range between 72 to 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure that there is a cool area on one side of the enclosure as well as a warmer area and that the animal can move freely between both areas. The size of the enclosure depends on the size of the tortoise. Tortoises are foragers and cover a large area daily in their search for food; they will pace back and forth in a very small enclosure. The minimum should be an enclosure which is six times as long as the tortoise itself as well as five times its width. The substrate should consist of something that the tortoise will not ingest and get its intestines clogged up. In order for your tortoise to not get impacted by an inadequate substrate you should provide it with commercial edible mixtures which contain calcium as the substrate. Alfalfa pellets can also be used but make sure that the substrate is safe to eat. Sand and other substrates which cannot be digested should not be used. It is very important to provide your tortoise with UVB radiation. Ultraviolet rays from the sun aid in the synthesis of vitamin D3 which acts like a horm one and regulates absorption of calcium from the gut. Without exposure to UVB rays your tortoise may develop bone and carapace malformations as well as weakness and ultimately death. This condition is called metabolic bone disease or MBD. It is advisable to add a special lamp that provides UVB to your tortoise. These lamps are available at pet stores but remember that they only emit the desired UVB rays at a certain distance from the tortoise as well as having to replace the lamp regularly. The best alternative is to expose your tortoise to natural unfiltered sunlight often.

FOOD
Tortoises are mainly plant eaters or herbivores and should be fed an exclusively vegetarian diet. Some will also eat animal matter but if you offer it make sure it is not very often or your tortoise might suffer from pyramiding which is a deformation of the shell as well as gout and other metabolic disorders. You should offer your tortoise fresh dark green vegetables, alfalfa, mustard greens, dandelion, and carrots grated squash in addition you should let it graze freely and offer some fruit. There are also commercial tortoise foods available but make sure you dust all foods with calcium daily and use a multivitamin once a week.

WATER
Water should be offered daily in a very shallow container that allows the tortoise to wallow inside it. It should be very shallow because tortoises are very poor swimmers and also they might turn upside down and drown. A cafeteria tray would be an excellent way to offer water to a smaller tortoise. Place the tray at the center of the enclosure so that the tortoise will not spill it as it walks alongside the walls of its pen. It is a wise idea to add a few stones to the water tray so that if your tortoise falls upside down the surface will be uneven and it will have an easier time positioning itself upright.