#tortoise care

[tortally-rad]

I'm so excited!! My textbook on tortoises just arrived!! I've been waiting for this book for ages!!

The textbook is "Tortoise Husbandry and Welfare" by Jane Williams, for anyone curious!!

[sylvanpossum]

genuinely though. before you ever consider a tortoise (any species), you need to carefully consider:

-do you have extra floor space of at least 8 by 4 feet? this is the minimum enclosure size for even the smallest tortoise species. the larger the tortoise, the larger the enclosure should be, i.e. a sulcata needs a far larger space.

-is the space heated, free of drafts, and away from windows?

-how do you plan to fully enclose, waterproof, and wire the space to make a proper tortoise enclosure? keep in mind your tortoise will pyramid (improper growth, can become painful) if your enclosure is open, due to heat and humidity escaping.

-do you have space for an outdoor enclosure? this needs to be large and predator-proof and allow the tortoise access to basking, grazing, etc. which are necessities for any tortoise.

-do you have enough money to support a tortoise? not only are the initial costs significant, but you will have to spend money regularly (UVB bulbs need changed every 3-4 months, proper greens are expensive to buy or to grow, your vet visits will always be costly, etc) for the next 75 years at least.

-do you have a reputable exotic vet nearby? do they treat chelonians? do they have experience with tortoises? what are their hours? how far are they? do they have emergency hours?

-if your area has winter or gets severe weather, how are you going to manage your tortoise then? if your species brumates, be aware that you can't rely on brumation to eliminate the need for an indoor enclosure- things happen, and brumation may not last as long as winter.

-how do you plan to provide the appropriate diet for a tortoise year-round? this is very species-dependent, but grazing tortoises (sulcatas, leopard torts) will need significant quantities of grass and grass hay year-round, mediterranean tortoises, redfoots, etc will need high-calcium greens (most of which cannot be bought at a grocery store, you'll have to grow them yourself, pesticide-free and organic of course). some tortoises (ahem, redfoots) need animal protein, fruit, flowers, and other more novel food items in their diets. how will you provide year-round edible flowers?

-how do you plan to obtain tortoise-appropriate supplies? even things like hides and water bowls that are made for reptiles are useless and often dangerous for tortoises (the water bowls with the ramp up to them? huge flipping/drowning hazard). most tortoise keepers end up DIYing nearly everything in their enclosures. if you're not handy, you'll need to either get handy or find someone who is to help.

-tortoises need daily care that can't be automated, if you travel you'll need a knowledgeable tort-sitter.

-all changes with tortoises have to be made slowly, gradually. they stress quite easily, and even moving them to a nicer, bigger enclosure could stress a tort enough to kill it.

-how do you plan to keep your tortoise safe? cats, dogs, raccoons, weasels, and more have to be accounted for in both enclosure design and your management. flipping and not being able to turn back over, or suffering organ damage from flipping too fast are common worries, especially with hatchling and juvenile tortoises. flipping over typically happens when the tortoise doesn't have enough space, has improper decor (stuff that encourages climbing), and usually in corners. there are many ways to help minimize your tortoises chances of flipping over.

-what's your plan to learn about your species? what's your plan to keep yourself up-to-date with gold standard practice (or at least exceeding minimum standards) as tortoise keepers learn more and as standards evolve? do you have knowledgeable keepers to talk to? will you stay up-to-date on current information even years from now? or will you get stuck in the practices that you learned to do first?

this isn't everything but it's a decent start. anyway have fun reading about tortoises. i like the tortoise forum for getting a good handle on care.

[heartofstarlight]

Hey Tortblr,* anyone see any reason not to feed a Russian (Horsefields) tortoise kale or collard greens (as part of a variety)? I was looking up stuff to feed Todd, looking for something new, and I stumbled across a couple of people saying you shouldn't feed these to them. Which is weird, as they're usually recommended so much.

Just wondered if anyone else had heard this, and if there's any reason I shouldn't be feeding them to Todd. (I'm over-protective and get worried over him.)

*Or tortoise side of Tumblr, if you prefer.

[ohimjustpeachykeen]

what do you do when your tortoise eats his substrate? 😂

you give him a substrate he can eat and ask him how he likes sleeping in his food, eh?

... not really 😂 it was a temporary fix, he's got some organic top soil now and he's attempted to dig himself in the corner to sleep

I needed to get the reptibark out before he could eat any more and I had a bail of timothy hay. I know some tort parents use it as substrate but I find it to be too dusty and def not deep enough for Nik's tank. I just needed to lay something down for the interim while I ran to go get something to lay in there until I can get some substrate he won't eat

if you want a reptile that is super boring with no personality whatsoever and they're basically just decorative, don't get a Russian tortoise. they're too much 🤪

[pandabynightpandabyday]

🐢 project tortoise 🐢

Meet Esio Trot

And his sibling M’Shell (we have no idea of the sexes)

Both are Marginated Tortoises, a Mediterranean species originating from Greece and Sardinia. When my brother got them as babies a few years back he and my mum were given some really dodgy care advice from the breeder that we recently realised has meant that our torts haven’t been flourishing as well as they should be at 5 years old (we trusted the breeder to care about the living arrangements that they were going into so assumed that his advice was completely reliable - it wasn’t. Do your own research and always consult a vet/reptile expert!)

SO, because I just graduated and have lots of time on my hands to do lots of research, I’ve taken over tortoise care and spent half of yesterday getting to know/playing with/bathing/feeding the tortoises and the other half picking weeds for their food for this week and drawing up plans for a new tort enclosure for when they come inside again full time at the end of the summer. Today we're hand-building a full-size wooden tortoise table for the two of them to chill out in as well as a smaller one for if one needs some vet prescribed space for health reasons or whatever

I am determined that Esio Trot and M'Shell are going to THRIVE and I’m hoping to hibernate them (or at least Esio, who's much bigger and healthier than M'Shell - although there’s loads of conflicting info on whether they even should..!!) for the first time this winter. I’m going to reblog this intermittently with progress updates as we overhaul their care and living situation and hopefully set them up for happy, healthy, long life.

[the-awkward-turt]

Hey, I know your more familiar with turts than torts, but I can't find anywhere online that give any guidelines for what /ammount/ to feed an 8 year old Herman's tortoise, only what types of foods. Do you have any good general rules of thumb for weight/food ratio or know any tortoise references to suggest? Thank you for your time!

Sorry I’m so late with this, life has been crazy lately.

So with aquatics you want to feed as many pellets as would fit inside the turtle’s head if it were hollow and you can give them free reign on aquatic plants, lettuce, and other greens. With tortoises they should usually have near-constant access to grazing material such as hay, weeds, and grasses and I would guess that a head-sized amount of more nutrient-rich food like pellets would be a good place to start. That is just a guess based on my knowledge of turtles and limited tortoise knowledge.

However I would recommend joining a tortoise forum where you can direct these questions (and any others that may arise) to more experienced tortoise keepers.

Here is a very reliable Hermann’s tortoise care sheet.

[thewhimsyturtle]

International Turtle and Tortoise Week 2017, Day 2 (Day 1 here)

Some people think turtles and tortoises are slow and boring.  They couldn’t be more wrong!  Just look at these pictures (and me)!  Sliders have beautiful bright stripes, the Central American ornate wood turtle has gorgeous patterns on its shell, and who could call the matamata boring?!  I got so excited about the matamata that I faceplanted on it!

We’d also like to take a moment for an important reminder to all the turtle and tortoise keepers out there:  Proper care is critical!  We turtles and tortoises may be quiet, but we can and do feel pain when we are kept in improper conditions.  Do your research!

P.S.  Thank you to @qvoro for gifting us this book many years ago!

[robotsloth]

Miss Greta has some shell rot.