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Care Sheets

Basic Tortoise Care Revisited

by William Ness

Part I - The Basics:
The very first thing a tortoise keeper needs to do is make a positive identification of the tortoise. This may seem really basic, but this is very important in determining the proper environmental and dietary needs of your animal. You cannot always depend solely on information given to you by a dealer, unless you are certain the individual is knowledgeable in tortoises. I once purchased a tortoise from a large pet shop in the Twin Cities that was labeled "Hermann's Tortoise." I happened to know the manager very well and knew that he had a lot of experience with tropical fish but was a relative newcomer to reptiles. I asked him how he knew it was a Hermann's and he told me that was what the wholesaler told him. The tortoise was actually an Elongated Tortoise, Indotestudo elongata, a species which is not only regarded as belonging to a completely different genus than the Hermann's Tortoise, Testudo hermanni, but which lives in a different part of the world and has different care requirements than a Hermann's as well. Some species have similar characteristics, so it is important to know the key differences for positive identification. I purchased a young Redfoot Tortoise, Geochelone carbonaria, a number of years ago, but as it grew the coloring looked more like a Yellowfoot, Geochelone denticulata, than a Redfoot. However, upon checking the scalation pattern on the plastron and head I determined that it was indeed a Redfoot. If you go through an experienced reptile dealer or breeder you can be more certain of the species' identification. There are also a number of books with detailed descriptions of the various breeds that can help you make a positive identification.

Once you have positively identified your tortoise you need to find out as much about your particular species as you can. The Minnesota Herpetological Society (MHS) library has a number of good books on tortoises. Some pet shops also carry a good line of reptile books and there is at least one book dealer in the area who specializes in reptiles. Some books on tortoises are very general which will give you the basics, but eventually you will want more detailed information on the particular species you are keeping. In order to best meet the tortoise's environmental and dietary needs you need to know what habitat it occupies in the wild and what it's natural dietary preferences are. Not only do you need to know the specific habitat of your tortoise but you also need to know how it behaves in that habitat. For example, some tortoises live in very hot and dry desert environments but spend the hottest part of the day deep in a burrow and only come out when it is cooler.

Once you have determined the basic requirements of your tortoise you need to adapt those requirements to your particular situation. It is impractical to set up the exact environmental, spatial, and dietary choices that a tortoise would have in the wild, but we can set up close approximations. Several factors need to be addressed. The specific pen requirements including; light source, heat sources, hiding places, substrate, ventilation, humidity, water supply, and diet.

Part II - Housing:
The first thing to look at is the turtle pen. The size of the pen is somewhat subjective and is dependent on the size and age of the tortoise and the space you have available. Also, if the pen is for multiple tortoises, the sex ratio may also be a factor, as males during the breeding season can be aggressive towards other males. Generally, I like to see the biggest enclosure practical, but I have seen a number of tortoises maintained and even reproducing in relatively small enclosures where most of their basic needs were obviously being met.

Pen size and construction material can have an effect on the tortoise's behavior. I had an adult pair of Redfoot Tortoises in an all glass 80 gallon aquarium with newspaper as a substrate and a heat lamp over one end. The pen was approximately 18 by 60 by 18 inches high. The tortoises spent a lot of time banging around the aquarium and actually scratched up the glass. I then moved them to a pen that was made of plywood on three sides with a glass front with a floor space of four foot by eight foot. The pen had several heat sources and a large hide box. The tortoises spent a lot of time exploring this cage but spent very little time banging against the glass. I think it is important to remember that glass is not part of their natural environment and most tortoises try to walk right through glass as if it wasn't there. I feel that a large pen with reduced glass may be a factor in reducing stress in the animals in some cases.

Ventilation is another factor that is related to the animal's native habitat. Does the animal live in the steamy rain forest or in the arid desert? Make certain that the ventilation allows you to maintain the proper humidity. Inadequate ventilation and a large water bowl may lead to humidity related health problems for arid species, just as an open topped cage with several spot lights may dry the air out too much for some species from more humid environments.

Substrate is a topic that has been much discussed and very little consensus has been reached. Newspapers are the old standby and will work. They are cheap and readily available. There are several drawbacks to using newspaper, though. First of all it takes a little bit of time on your part to remove the old newspapers and carefully replace them in a large pen. However, it only takes a couple of tortoises about five minutes to completely trash the cage that you have so carefully set up for them. They will shred the paper, push it into the corner or water bowl, and them eat the wet newspaper and defecate on the exposed (now newspaperless) bottom of the cage. Wood shavings have been used by some people, but it too has a few drawbacks. While maintenance is a little easier because you can just scoop out the soiled shavings, pine shavings and especially cedar shavings can be quite resinous and give off fumes that may be detrimental to tortoises. Wood shavings will also adhere to spilled food which then may then be ingested. Aspen shavings are supposed to be better than pine, but I would still be concerned about possible accidental ingestion. Rabbit pellets have been used quite successfully and, as usual, they have advantages and disadvantages. They are quite absorbent and have the advantage over the other mediums in being edible and actually good food for tortoises. Many recipes for tortoise diets include rabbit pellets. The disadvantage is that if you do not promptly remove soiled pellets they may be ingested or become moldy. They also seem to have a dehumidifying effect in a warm cage which can be a plus or a minus depending on species. One substrate that is becoming popular is a mineral based substrate (marketed as "CAL-STRATE") which is very absorbent, is edible, and acts as a calcium supplement. I have been experimenting with this substrate in my large tortoise and Bearded Dragon pens and have not really found any drawbacks yet.

Part III - Heating And Lighting: Heating and lighting are two areas that can go hand in hand. Most tortoises probably benefit from full-spectrum lighting. It is possible that tortoises housed outside during the summer may get sufficient UV exposure to last through the winter, especially if they are adults. This whole area of UV needs and appropriate sources is much debated. In the past, fluorescent lighting has been the only source of indoor full spectrum lighting, but I understand that there are now incandescent full spectrum bulbs available. In addition to full spectrum light, the tortoises need a heat source. I like to use a combination of top and bottom heat sources. During the day I run spotlights or other incandescent lights of a appropriate wattage to provide hot spots of about 90+ degrees and maintain ambient temperatures of about 80-85 degrees for Elongated, Redfoot, Leopard (Geochelone pardalis), Russian (Testudo horsfieldii), and Pancake (Malacocherus tornieri) tortoises. These lights are controlled by rheostats so that seasonal adjustments can be made without changing light bulbs. Bottom heat is provided by several means. I use human heating pads set on low or similarly designed reptile heating pads located under a shallow cover made of 1/4 paneling or tile board with one by two 1 by 2 inch wood strips around the sides to form a sort of inverted cookie pan. The tortoises readily climb onto these low platforms. A similar heating box can be made from 12 or 16 inch wide Flexwatt panels. If the cage floor is thin enough to allow sufficient heat transfer a heating devise can be placed directly under the cage. I have not yet had tortoises chew on cables, but the operative word is "yet." As a precaution I have developed ingenious ways of protecting any electrical cords located inside the pens. Unfortunately, I do not have enough space to describe these marvelous devices in the scope of this article.

Part IV - Water:
Water is provided by one of several ways. A container large enough for the tortoise to crawl into and soak may be left in the pen at all times. However, the tortoise is certain to crawl in and foul the water as soon as you replace the fouled water with clean. Then, the tortoise will crawl out and drip water all over your substrate making a general mess. A hidden hazard with this method is that a clumsy tortoise may tip over in the water bowl and drown. An alternative method is to use a small bowl that may be kept full of clean water at all times. If the bowl is too small for the tortoise to crawl into theoretically you reduce the chance of the tortoise defecating in the bowl. Unfortunately the tortoise does not know this and will crawl over the bowl, pause at the appropriate time, and foul the water. A practice that is used by many tortoise keepers is to not keep any water in the pen at all, but instead take the tortoise to water on a periodic basis. A good soaking in warm water once a week will provide adequate moisture for many tortoises and the warm water often acts as a mild laxative and keeps many messes out of the cage.

Part V - Diet:
Diet is the subject of much debate and trial and error. Some practices that seem to contradict published guidelines work extremely well. I have read in numerous articles the importance of limiting the protein intake of tortoises to promote good normal shell development, yet one of the largest producers of Leopard Tortoises says he feeds his babies nothing but monkey chow for the first year and he has a lower mortality rate on this diet than with anything else he has tried. Generally, depending of course on the species, a diet high in a variety of greens with a good mixture of vegetables and some fruit is desired. Any mixture can be lightly sprinkled with good quality vitamins, but be careful to not overdo vitamin supplements. In the summer many tortoises can be grazed it the backyard if it is chemical and predator free. One note of caution in grazing tortoises: tortoises are not efficient chewers and if allowed to graze on long uncut grass may develop an impacted digestive tract.

Quantity and quality are both factors in proper shell and bone development in tortoises. I have two female Elongated Tortoises that are captive hatched litter mates. They have been housed together and offered the same diet (which has varied over the years) since hatching. For some reason one tortoise does not consume as much food as the other. This "finicky" eater is a little bit smaller than the "chow hound" but more significantly has a much smoother and more natural appearing shell. A diet full of all the "good stuff' fed on a daily basis may not be as healthy as one that has a higher "roughage" content such as dandelion leaves and other greens.

I encourage other members who have had success or lack of success with various diets to write a short summary of those experiences and submit them to the MHS Newsletter. This is an ideal forum for us to learn from each other's experiences and further the advancement of the inexact science/art of tortoise keeping.

Bibliography:
Boycott, Richard C. and Bourquin, Ortwin. 1988. SOUTH AFRICAN TORTOISE BOOK. Southem Book Publ. Ltd. Cape Town, South Africa.

Das, Indraneil. 1991. COLOUR GUIDE TO THE TURTLES AND TORTOISES OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT. R&A Publ., Ltd. Somerset, England.

Emst, Carl H. and Barbour, Roger W. 1989. TURTLES OF THE WORLD. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC.

Highfield, Andrew C. 1990. KEEPING AND BREEDING TORTOISES IN CAPTIVITY. R&A Publ., Ltd. Somerset, England.

Highfield, Andrew C. 1994. TORTOISE TRUST GUIDE TO TORTOISES ~ TURTLES. Carapace Press. London, England.

Iverson, John B. 1992. A REVISED CHECKLIST WITH DISTRIBUTION MAPS OF THE TURTLES OFTHE WORLD. Privately Printed. Richmond, IN.

Pritchard, Peter C.H. 1979. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TURTLES. T.F.H. Publ. Neptune, NJ.

Pursall, Brian. 1994. MEDITERRANEAN TORTOISES. T.F.H. Publ. Neptune, NJ.