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Tortoise Care

How to Keep Your Tortoise Happy and Healthy.

To maintain your tortoise in good condition and allow him to live a long and contented life various basic requirements must be met.

The more exotic species should only be kept by knowledgeable reptile specialists who have studied their very specific needs and can cater for them adequately.

The easier species however, such as the mediterranean tortoises like Herman's Tortoise, and the Spur-Thighed Tortoise can be cared for by anyone who is willing to provide a few simple requirements.

Here are some of the main things to consider. This list is not exhaustive, and other aspects of tortoise husbandry will be added, and much more detailed recommendations given, as the site develops.

Light

All species need access to good amounts of natural light. Ideally they should be provided with a secure garden enclosure, which is open to full sun for the main part of the day. Access to shade is also important, either provided by a neighbouring building or trees, or by a varied terrain and clumps of vegetation.

A well lit indoor area is also needed for times when the weather is bad. A greenhouse or conservatory can make a very good home as long as it is not allowed to get too hot.

Feeding Tortoises

Although many species of tortoise drink very little, a safe clean source of water should always be available, and care should be taken to ensure the correct diet is being supplied for your particular species.

If possible someone should be available during the warm parts of the day when tortoises are most likely to feed. This way an eye can be kept on the tortoises feeding habits. Any that are not eating well can be encouraged, by careful hand feeding if required. Care should be taken to avoid this becoming a habit. Some tortoise become very lazy if hand fed and then refuse to browse for food themselves.

A wide range of wild plants such as dandelions, chicory, sow thistle, white clover, heartease and wild radish flowers, provide the best and most natural tortoise diet. Mallow, mulberry and hibiscus flowers, and various other shrub leaves and flowers, add variety to the diet. Pansies and many other garden flowers are also popular with our tortoises. It is cheap and easy to grow a variety of these tortoise foods from seed and I recommend http://www.plant-world-seeds.com who collect their seed fresh every year, which gives very high rates of germination.

Care must be taken to avoid poisonous species. While tortoises will generally reject foods that are harmful to them this cannot be relied on, so always check that the plants you intend to feed your tortoise are completely safe. Also ensure that any weeds or garden plants growing within your tortoise's enclosure are not poisonous to him. Remove any plants you're not sure about. We are working on a list of safe plants, as well as one covering plants poisonous to tortoises and will add these to the site soon.

Natural browsing on safe wild and garden plants should provide all your tortoises nutritional needs. You can supplement the diet with a little cucumber, tomato, lettuce and other salad vegetables. These are useful early and late in the season when there is a shortage of suitable vegetation in the garden, and when it is urgent to keep the tortoise well hydrated.

However these salad foods are very high in water and low in nutrients, so are of limited food value for tortoises. They should therefore only ever make up a small part of the tortoises diet. Lettuce, tomato and other large plant leaves and fruit should be cut into small pieces to make it easier for the tortoises to eat.

Dog and cat foods, high protein feeds like peas and other legumes, and also tinned meats and highly processed foods should be avoided at all costs. These rich foods are not suitable for tortoises and will cause developmental problems including deformed shell growth and bone problems.

Foods high in sugars (including very ripe fruit) are unsuitable for many species too, as are certain vegetables such as cabbage and spinach. Feeding foods such as these can produce kidney failure or bladder stones, and may result eventually in the death of your tortoise.

Dietary requirements vary greatly from species to species. The recommendations above refer particularly to the mediterranean species. The individual needs of your chosen species should be researched carefully, before you buy your first tortoise if possible. This way you will be sure to choose a species that is a good match for the food plants and environment you can most easily provide.

All foods should always be fed absolutely fresh. Food should not be left lying around, especially in warm weather, or it will attract flies, and may rot. This could allow harmful bacteria to spread, which could kill your tortoise or make him very sick.

The only time you should expect your tortoise not to eat for extended periods is when he first wakes up from hibernation, or at the opposite end of the year when he will be 'winding down' in preparation for his long winter sleep.

Tortoises are browsing animals, geared to feeding on sparse vegetation. They often live in very harsh environments where they may have many days between locating suitable food plants. They have evolved to live with this irregular food avaiability and therefore do not need to eat every day to stay healthy.

So, as long as your tortoise is a good weight, there is no need to worry if he does not eat every day. On dull, wet or cold days your tortoise may not become active enough to digest food properly, and on those days he will not eat.

However, if a normally healthy, active, tortoise suddenly stops eating, for many days at a time, it is a sign that something is wrong and should not be ignored. It may be caused by constipation.

A luke warm bath (warm to the touch but not hot) can be given to help with this. A shallow bowl makes the ideal bath, but always make sure the tortoise's nose stays well above the water surface. Never leave a tortoise unsupervised while bathing.

Deeper water is more effective for bad cases of constipation. Here supervision is even more essential to avoid risk of drowning. A ramp made from a small wooden plank (or similar) can be used in a deeper bowl. One end of the plank is rested on the rim of the bowl and the other end rests on the bottom.

This will allow you to position the tortoise at an angle, so his body and legs are completely submerged, but with his head well clear of the water. Arrange it so it is not possible for him to accidentally fall over the edge of the ramp into the water. If you don't have a ramp then just sit and hold the tortoise gently at a 30° - 45° with the warm water lapping around his body.

Fifteen minutes to half an hour of this treatment will often cure a sluggish bowel. Then, it is likely that your tortoise will miraculously rediscover his appetite, and eat normally.

Worming can also solve the problem, if he is not already on a regular worming program. If your tortoise continues to refuse food, then take him to the vet for further investigation.

Most healthy tortoises have very good appetites; some are positively greedy! So your problem may well be the opposite: avoiding your tortoise eating too much, or having too rich a diet. A tortoise should eat no more food in a day than would cover the area of his plastron (underside of his shell). Over-indulgence can lead to lethargic unfit tortoises, so great care should be taken to avoid this.

Health Care

As alluded to above, a regular program of worming and general parasite control should be undertaken from the moment you get your first tortoise. Consult your vet for further advice on this. He will provide you with a course of worming treatment that is safe and effective. Tortoises worms can not only threaten the health of tortoises, but can be passed on to humans too. Therefore it is very important that you always keep your tortoise worming program up to date.

New tortoises entering the group should always be given several weeks in quarantine. A period in isolation allows you to make sure they are not bringing in new diseases. Also this will mean that worming treatment, given when the tortoise arrives, will have the necessary time to work, avoiding any chance of worms being spread to the rest of the group.

Great care must be taken when feeding tortoises vitamins and especially calcium supplements. These may well do more harm than good. We will publish more detailed recommendations in this area in due course.

Tortoise Enclosure

Keeping Tortoises Indoors

A small vivarium designed for a snake or lizard is not a suitable habitat for a tortoise. Tortoises like to wander over large areas of irregular, often very dry desert, terrain searching out plants and other foods. A confined and humid tank is no substitute for this environment and will cause them much stress and eventual illness.

It is therefore wise to avoid buying one of the many advertised tortoise vivariums found online. Most are not at all suitable for any tortoise species and certainly not desert tortoises, such as the Spur-Thighed Tortoise or other mediterranean tortoises.

There are now some well designed Tortoise tables available that can provide reasonable conditions for tortoises while they are kept indoors. They give good artificial lighting to keep your tortoise healthy and the best ones give sufficient space for your tortoise to ramble about and get plenty of exercise.

Keeping Tortoise Outdoors

Nothing beats a fresh air environment out of doors, with natural light and vegetation. So unless the weather is bad, the ideal is to house your tortoises outside in a large but secure garden pen.

For tortoises living out of doors, a simple 'stockade' made by enclosing an area with a rectangle of low planks, set on edge, can make an ideal tortoise enclosure.

Within this area, they like a box to retire to at night or when the sun becomes too intense for them. This kind of arrangement can be set up in a greenhouse or conservatory too.

Make the pen as large as you have space for and plant some non poisonous grasses and plants in it. This will not only give cover from the sun but will also provide a much more stimulating environment for your pet, a little closer to his natural habitat.

Large rocks, carefully placed to form a miniature landscape of hills and valleys, can easily be added too. These will allow your tortoise to prop himself up at different angles so he can 'catch the rays' as the sun moves around throughout the day. Sunbathing is the number one favourite tortoise passtime!

Make sure your planks are wide enough so that the tortoises cannot climb over them. The dimensions will depend on the size of your chosen tortoise species, but aim at using planks that are a little taller, when stood on edge, than you think is necessary.

Tortoises are far better at climbing than you would imagine. If one tortoise is resting at the edge of the pen it is not unknown for another to use him as a stepping stone to the wider world. Whether this happens by accident or design, the end result is the same; hours of frustration and worry, as you search for your errant tortoise, and wonder if he's made it as far as the road... It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack - they are very well camoflaged!

To avoid all this stress, and the risk to your tortoise, it's best to make sure your pen is totally tortoise proof before leaving your favourite pet unattended. Test it out first on a hot day, when the tortoise is very active and let him show you what he can do. All being well you will have a tortoise-proof pen, where your tortoises will be safe and happy. Always be wary with new arrivals however. Some tortoises are more talented escape artists than others.

Be especially careful to avoid planting tall vegetation near the edges of the pen that could be used as climbing perches. Also watch out particularly at corners where an active 'sun-fuelled' tortoise can be remarkably good at levering himself out of the pen.

A Tortoise Garden

The happiest captive tortoises are those that have a large area of the garden to wander in. Designing an area of your garden especially for your tortoises is perfectly feasable and an enjoyable pursuit for the real tortoise enthusiast.

There is no need for attractive planting or good general garden design to be abandoned to achieve this goal. With a few simple provisions a garden can function, both as an attractive recreational area for people, and as a wonderful habitat for tortoises.

If your tortoises also have free access to a greenhouse or polytunnel for cold wet days they will be even more contented!

Setting up a full tortoise garden is of course more complicated than a simple pen, but more rewarding too. The whole area the tortoises are to be allowed into must be fully tortoise-proof. Ideally a solid, tall, garden wall, or fence, should make up the majority of the perimeter.

Tortoise access to gateways or other entrances to the garden should be blocked. This can be achieved by simply creating a step, too high for the tortoise to negotiate, leading up out of the garden. Alternatively a very low fence or wall can be built to block potential escape routes.

If you give them a wooden box in a favoured sunny corner of the garden, most species of tortoise will return to it at night. Or at least this is our experience with the main mediterranean tortoise species. This means they can generally be easily located in the late afternoon, tucked up in the dry grass in their box. And so the 'needle in a haystack' search routine can be avoided.

Later in the year, but long before any danger of frost, it is best to confine these 'free range' tortoises to a smaller penned area within the wider garden. This way there is no danger of not being able to find them if the weather should suddenly turn wintery.

Tortoise Hibernation

As the summer draws to a close and the days shorten, here in our British climate tortoises gradually become more lethargic and eat gradually less and less.

This is a natural slowing down which prepares them for the winter months when the tortoise's body will shut down almost completely. His metabolism slows to the point where his heart is hardly beating and all of his bodily functions work at a level that keeps him alive, but no more.

Preparing for hibernation is always tricky and so particular care is required at the beginning and end of the season. We plan on introducing a whole section on how best to care for your tortoise as he goes to sleep in the autumn and how to safely get him back into action in the spring.

Watch this space for this and much more to follow on keeping tortoises.

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Comments submitted from other visitors
Name :	tortoise.org.uk
Comment:	Hi Corinna, Tortoises tend to be silent creatures most of the time and rarely produce any form of vocalisation. They males however do make high pitched sighs or squeaking sounds during courtship and mating, even if it is only with an inanimate object to which they have taken a fancy! Females may also make similar noises when egg laying. Occasionally male tortoises will make noises when defending their territory. The exact sound and it's frequency and volume depends on the species. It is quite normal for tortoises to make slight hissing sounds when withdrawing into their shells, especially if they are overweight. If you ever hear bubbling or fluid noises from your tortoise or a regular whining / wheezing noise this can be a sign of a respiratory tract infection, and requires a prompt trip to the vet.
Name :	Kate
Comment:	My tortoise (spur thighed) is in a large area and occasionally turns himself over when sun-fuelled. Sometimes he doesn't seem able to turn himself back. How long is it dangerous for them to be on their back if unnoticed?
Name :	Dawn
Comment:	My tortoise is around 1year old, it seems to like mushrooms are these good for it.
Name :	tortoise.org.uk
Comment:	Hello Dawn, Yes mushrooms in moderation should be fine for your tortoise, as long as they are known to be a non toxic species. Mushrooms from the greengrocer, suited to human consumption, are likely to be good for your tortoise too. Obviously if they are being picked in a garden or woodland setting then much more caution is required - and a very good field guide! Don't risk it if you're not 100% sure that they are a non-poisonous species.
Name :	tortoise.org.uk
Comment:	Hi Kate, It depends how warm it is as too how long a tortoise would last if stuck on his back. They dehydrate very quickly when up-side-down, and soon exhaust themselves with struggling to turn over. They also have difficulty breathing as the lungs are compressed. If they stay upside down for a long period they will ultimately suffocate. In hot weather this could happen in a matter of hours. Tortoises are tough creatures however, so while I've obviously never tested it, I suspect they could last a day or more without permanent harm in cooler conditions. The occasional hour or two spent wriggling around as they try to right themselves will not cause serious long term problems, as long as they are not near a heat lamp. But it is very stressful for them. So measures to reduce the chance of it happening are well worthwhile. Placing plenty of growing plants and rocks or other solid objects around in their pen will give them more chance of finding something close enough at hand to push against. Tortoises are remarkably good at turning themselves upright, if they can reach anything at all to lever themselves over. It also helps to avoid vivariums or aquariums. Apart from the other serious health problems these cause, their smooth transparent walls will encourage the tortoise to try and climb out to get to the freedom he can see on the other side - resulting in a tortoise constantly on his back. (It doesn't sound if you have this sort of set up but I mention it for other tortoise owners who do.) Take away objects that the tortoise can clamber over near his heat lamp (if he has one). Make sure substrate near the lamp slopes away from the lamp at a good angle. This will help to avoid him rolling too close to it if he topples over near the lamp. If he turns over close to a lamp this could prove very quickly fatal. I wonder what kind of material you have him bedded on. A deep substrate of sand and soil mixed together is best. That way he can dig well down into it to get enough purchase to turn himself over. Hemp and lighter materials don't give the necessary leverage. Tortoises love climbing up the corners of pens and are remarkably good at it. This can lead to them falling back from quite a height, risking shell injury, as well as a long sessions spent on their back until found. If your problems are caused by tempting corners like this then placing plant posts or other non-climbable objects to block the corner can help a lot. Removing strong stemmed plants that can be climbed is also useful. In addition, introducing more rounded corners to your enclosures will help if you have a corner-climber! Rounded corners can easily be created using large boulders or thin curved wood sheets and will stop the tortoise being able to gain a foothold. Our spur thighed tortoise male is so amorous, and such a nuisance on hot days to his girlfriend, that she sometimes looses patience with him and tosses him onto his back! If that happens to be your problem then the simple solution is to remove the females on very warm days to a peaceful spot where the male tortoise can't bother them. If you do find your tortoise on his back at any time then it's a good idea to give him a cool bath. Tilt him so his shell is under the water as much as possible but his head is out. Keep him there until he drinks if you can. This will cool him and hydrate him at the same time, helping him make a quicker recovery from his ordeal. If you suspect the tortoise has been upturned a very long time then a trip to the vet would be the safest way forward. All tortoises need to be checked regularly while active to make sure they aren't upside down. Perhaps some of the suggestions above can help persuade your boy to stay the right way up and reduce the need for such frequent checks. I hope so. Good luck with him.
Name :	Mikey
Comment:	Does an ownr have to help maintan the shell? If so, how? My tortoise seems in good health apart from some cracking between a couple of the shell panels. I have no access to a vet.
Name :
Comment:	In what ways should an owner help maintain the health of the shell?
Name :	Heidi
Comment:	Hi, I have just got a tortoise which is approx. 5 yrs old which is currently staying indoors. We have a good sized garden that attracts the sun all day but I am still unsure as to whether the weather is suitable for him to be out there now. Can you please advise?
Name :	tortoise.org.uk
Comment:	Hi Heidi, It depends on the species of tortoise you have, and what it's natural environment would be, as to how well spending time out in your garden will suit him. In addition the amount of sunlight and natural shelter your garden can provide is important. If your garden is a natural sun trap, as yours sounds to be, then this will obviously suit him much better than a cold north sloping garden tucked behind a tall building. Some of the southern and tropical species require warmer conditions and more sunshine than can be provided by our Northern climate. They should only be allowed outside for short periods on really warm days. However, the Mediterranean tortoise species and those from North Africa, which make up the majority of pet tortoises kept in the UK, are usually much hardier than is generally thought. They can safely spend time outside from late spring until autumn as long as there is no danger of frost. In fact the more time they spend out in natural light and fresh air the better for them, both physically and mentally. If there is the opportunity for him to browse as he naturally would in the wild on plantains, clover and other natural weeds and flowers then he will be living very much as he would in the wild. The benefits of this kind of outdoor 'freedom' (even for just a few hours each day) are tremendous for any tortoise and will ensure he lives a longer and happier life. It rather depends on the weather as to just how long they can spend out at a time. In a spell of warm sunny days and mild nights they can be left out all the time, assuming they are in an escape proof tortoise enclosure, and have a tortoise hutch or box in one corner to return to at night. Most tortoises will tuck themselves in very well at night. Either into the peat / sand substrate in the bottom of their box, or buried under their favourite shrub. As long as it doesn't freeze the cold will not bother them. They will emerge perfectly happy when warmed by the sun the following day and continue with their munching. If dogs, foxes or badgers have access to your garden this may not be a safe option. A greenhouse or conservatory makes an ideal midway habitat between indoors and out. It gives the benefits of more natural light and somewhat more freedom then a pen indoors, while still keeping them warm enough to feed even when the weather is poor. So if you have that option then it would be an ideal compromise - you can still let him have 'a run' outside when the weather is fine. One of our tortoises escaped from his 'tortoise-proof' pen one year late in the autumn, much to our horror. After much fruitless searching we sadly abandoned all hope of finding him and assumed the winter would claim him. The following spring we found that he had spent the coldest winter on record here in Scotland (up to that date) in our neighbour's compost heap. He ambled out in the spring totally unharmed and was already munching his way through the aubretia patch when we found him. Obviously this is not to be recommended but it just shows you what tough, natural born survivors they can be! If the weather turns cold and wet and, after several days, the tortoise has not been naturally warmed enough to allow him to eat well, then it is time to bring him back to his inside pen and warm him gently until he feels like eating again. Tortoises don't need to eat every day and it is quite natural for them to snooze for a few wet days between really good feeds on hot days. So I'd recommend you give him as much time outside as is practical. No need to mollycoddle him!
Name :	tortoise.org.uk
Comment:	Hi Mikey, Sounds like your tortoise is very healthy. His shell will stay naturally healthy if he is fed a good balanced diet, given enough to drink, and has access to plenty of good quality light. There is no need to give him any special shell treatments apart from a luke warm bath once a week to keep him nicely hydrated. Tortoises naturally pick up a few bumps and scrapes as they trundle about over boulders and rough ground. A few blemishes, small fissures or pits in the shell are quite normal, especially in an older tortoise. The cracking you are seeing between the plates could also simply be a sign of healthy new growth. A tortoise can only grow by laying down new material at the edge of these plates. As he gets older, a white ring of new growth appears around each plate - especially visible at the end of a very good summer when he has eaten well. Give him some pieces of cuttlefish bone (re-soak it every few days and leave it lying in his pen) to make sure he has enough calcium and phosphorus for good shell development. Also avoid feeding very wet foods like tomato and lettuce, or high protein foods like peas and beans. That's about all that is required to keep his shell in good condition. If you start to see more extensive flaking of the shell then it is possible he has developed dry shell rot. Mild cases require a gentle brush with a toothbrush to remove the flakey shell - do this very gently as it can be painful to the tortoise to rub hard. Then soak the affected area, and quite widely around the area, with Betadine or Nolvasan (chlorhexidine) diluted at the recommended rate. These solutions are available at online pet stores. Nolvasan is now thought to give a quicker, more effective treatment than Betadine so get that one if you can. For more details of dry shell rot treatment please see my reply to Janet (page 2 of comments on the Pet Tortoises page). Don't worry though. I only mention dry shell rot for the sake of completeness. In your case I think you have a perfectly healthy tortoise who is simply showing white growth areas along his scales. Hope he has another good summer.
Name :	Hoda
Comment:	Hello :) plz my tortoise has tiny hole in her shell, a diameter of a pin, it is healthy eats,sleeps, and walks well , should i cover that hole with a patch , or leave it, and how would that hole affect my tortoise health ?(N.B. i bought it with the hole)
Name :	tortoise.org.uk
Comment:	Hello Hoda, I don't think you need to worry about the hole, especially one so small. Tortoises often accumulate quite a lot of wear and tear to their shells over time. It is best not to try and seal the hole with anything as the tortoise could react badly to the material used, and it might trap dirt and cause possible infection to spread through the shell. If you feed a good diet of weeds and flowering plants, and make sure there are a few pieces of cuttlefish bone in the pen (which gives a good balanced supply of calcium and phosphorus) then the shell should remain healthy and the hole should not get any worse or cause the tortoise any trouble. If you do start to notice flaking of the shell or the hole starts to grow bigger then it is possible she could have some form of shell disease. The most likely condition would be dry shell rot. This requires a trip to the vet. He will gently clean up the shell and give you a suitable liquid such as Nolvasan to treat the problem before it becomes serious. Don't worry though, it's most probably just wear and tear in the case of your tortoise, and should not require any treatment, other than continuing to maintain him on a good diet.
Name :	kay
Comment:	can you tell me if i should cut my tortoises claws
Name :	tortoise.org.uk
Comment:	Hi Kay No you don't generally need to cut tortoise claws. Their claws do grow much longer than those of cats or dogs, but this is quite normal. Tortoises develop these long, super-strong claws to help them cope with the rough terrain of their natural habitat. Without them they wouldn't be able to get sufficient grip to heave themselves up steep banks. They would also find it much more difficult to tilt their heavy shells towards the sun. Another situation where long claws are indispensable is when flipping back after an accidental turnover. This would be very tricky without long nails. The upturned tortoise just has to wriggle around until he can catch the very end of his long toe nails against a protruding rock or vegetation, for this to provide the necessary leverage to right himself. Females also need powerful claws to assist them to dig nesting holes for eggs. Male tortoises use them to help in their courtship behaviour, and hibernating tortoises rely on strong claws to bury themselves safely away from frosts, and predators, in winter. If tortoise claws do start getting excessively long it is generally because the surfaces in their pen are too smooth. It's a good idea to create a little mountain (or several if room allows) of rough boulders, with some weeds the tortoise really likes planted in the cracks between them. The food plants will encourage the tortoise to climb his mountain regularly, gently wearing down his nails. He will also use the mini-hills to angle himself nicely to the heat lamp or sun. Pieces of slate, or other similar material, if placed in areas that the tortoise must cross regularly, say to reach his food, or his favourite sunbathing spot, should effectively keep claws in good condition. This is especially important in indoor pens and outdoor enclosures where their are no naturally rocky areas. If you get a tortoise that comes with long claws, that may even be starting to curl round, then a quick trip to the vet is in order. He will cut the nails back safely. If you then introduce the rough terrain, as described above, this should prevent recurrence of the problem. You can of course cut the tortoise's claws yourself. However, their is a high risk of cutting into the blood vessels, which are very difficult to see in the nail. This will cause the tortoise a great deal of pain, produce dramatic amounts of blood, and can lead to infection. So the risk is best avoided!. A gentle file down with a nail file at the very tips of the claws is fine to neaten a split or roughly broken nail tip. We have plenty of rough rocks and boulders strewn about in our tortoise enclosures for them to clamber over. This keeps their claws in very good condition - neither too short or two long. We have never had to cut claws in 30 years. Hope this information is of use to you.
Name :	kay
Comment:	Thanks for the reply to my question i found the information very helpfull.we have had our tortoise for 34 years and are going to leave her to our granchildren in our will.