Does anyone own a tortoise?

[theheatherjane1]

I've found myself thinking about tortoises and I think I'd rather like one.

I already own a toddler and a cat, am I crazy?
What do I need to know? Are they an easy guest or do they have terrible tortoise habits?

I found this very helpful

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Animal%2520Welfare%2520Act%2520Tortoise%2520Housing.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjqp4290uXhAhUAUBUIHaTaD_kQFjALegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw2yKtLcOVcgPe4tymEypEEx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Animal%2520Welfare%2520Act%2520Tortoise%2520Housing.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjqp4290uXhAhUAUBUIHaTaD_kQFjALegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw2yKtLcOVcgPe4tymEypEEx

I have one! He's lovely, a proper little character. He will be 8 in August and I've had him since he was 3. Again, he has a heated vivarium for inside but will go outside on sunny days. I have other pets and he's the easiest by far.

I've never hibernated him because I was told in a reptile/exotic pet shop that a heated vivarium means its unnecessary, also they have to be a certain weight/age to do so. However, he did put himself into a sort of semi hibernation this winter (but I was moving house so felt it was safer not to hibernate then disturb him) so I may look into it for next winter.

As for the shit (and pee!), in my experience they are not fussy where they go! Mine has been known to use his own food bowl as a toilet

I wonder why that is, why they don't all need the same levels of care

I think our knowledge of what tortoises need to be healthy has changed over the years, like with many other pets. So older torts might have lived outdoors in gardens for years and survived, but not necessarily thrived.

Also their size, ours is small so if she wandered off in the garden we would struggle to find her. We have foxes also so I would worry about that.
And whereabouts in the country you live. We are in northern Scotland so on average it is not as hot and sunny in our garden as if you lived in Cornwall.

I happily leave her out in her run all day in the summertime and just bring her in at night. If we had a completely enclosed garden with no predators I would let her roam free. But we don't have that so she needs to be contained somehow.

I have an elderly friend who said when she was young her dad drilled a hole in the tortoise's shell and attached a flag so they could spot the tortoise when it was out in the garden among the bushes. That sounds barbaric to us nowadays but back then it seemed quite common.

My friend has two and overall they are easy pets! They just wander around having the odd munch. However one of them nearly didn't wake up from hibernation as it hadn't eaten enough before it went for its big sleep, so it was very underweight. She's had to tube feed it 4 times a day for half an hr at a time for a month. Expensive vets checks and special food. She suddenly became a hard work pet!

I'd also like to reiterate what has been said by some here, it is hugely important to get their environment right. When small or if underweight or not completely healthy hibernation can be dangerous to them and also needs to be carefully controlled. If kept awake then suitable light and heat needs to be provided as they need certain wavelengths of light for vitamin synthesis and being indoors for prolonged periods without this is not healthy. It is also important to ensure a balanced mixed diet is fed.

Too many places sell a small young tortoise with a "package" accommodation and food. An enclosed vivarium is NOT suitable for tortoises despite being supplied with a large number of them and a tortoise table type arrangement is far better indoors and an enclosed pen outdoors when weather is suitable. Also these tortoise pellet type foods are not good for them.

Please please do your research and ensure you get it right if you plan to go down this route.

beautifulgirls Can I ask why a tortoise table is better than a vivarium please? As I said, mine is in a vivarium as this is what was recommended by the (reputable) reptile centre I purchased him from. Their reasons were that it kept him at a constant temperature, whereas a table will fluctuate depending on the room temperature.

This is a genuine question btw, because actually I don't really like him being so enclosed but thought I was doing the best for him.

Sorry OP for hijacking the post!

beautifulgirls can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's about airflow and the glass can be confusing for torts.

I did hear and read that tables are usually more successful in better insulated areas and a lot of the data about the tables comes from US sources, where it's warmer. Here in England especially in some older houses it can be a struggle with a table. I tried a lot of different things because I had a lovely table but in the end I had to try a viv. Mine is a large custom build though with lots of ventilation and I have things on the glass so the tort doesn't get confused. If you've ever seen a tortoise tap for ages and ages on the glass because they don't realise it's glass it's heartbreaking so everything should be done to prevent that really.

I'm sure others can add more info

Hi OP, I’ve just had my beloved horsfield tortoises re-homed (luckily with a vet!)
They were low maintenance but the pet shop gave me lots of wrong information about how they should be homed, they sold me very expensive vivariums with wood chips and heat lamps that were expensive to replace. One bullied the other almost to the point of her dying so I had to buy a new tank (very expensive) only to find out from the vet that they should never be put into vivs and should have either been outside or in a tortoise table with soil.
Also, every time they got ill it would cost me at least £250 at the vets for c rays and so on because they’re exotic animals so require specialist vets.
Their diet is very complicated and you mustn’t just do what grandparents did and give them anything.
Certainly don’t drill a hole in their shells because they have a lot of nerves in their shell and it can really negatively affect their well being.
If I’d have known how difficult they were to look after properly from the outset, I wouldn’t have bought them.
Hope this helps.

I don't but know someone close who does. Has personality in spades! Quite more of a handful than they realised buy mainly as it has a bit of a thing for people and just stalks everyone around! They have an indoor and outdoor pen so outdoors when warm enough and loose in the garden (fully enclosed) if theyre there.
Indoor it has a light on it but I don't know a huge amount about that, there is a light clipped on and a bedroom type bit!

I have one! They are awesome.

Unfortunately, she got out of her outdoors enclosure last year (bloody ninja!) and decided to hibernate herself but luckily reappeared at the weekend (my garden is fairly tortoise proof so I knew she was there somewhere).

I have a tortoise table with lamp inside and an outdoors run with a small cold frame and a little wooden house (both unheated). Usually, she goes outside when it starts to get reliably warm - at first just in the day times when sunny then at night too. She eats certain types of weeds (plantain, sow thistle, jack by the hedge, false stinging nettles and some dandelion mostly) which is fine in Spring/Summer but was hard to find enough when I didnt hibernate her during the first winter we had her.

She's actually fostered for life via this scheme: www.britishtortoisesociety.com/foster.htm. It meant she was 4 when we got her so was always pretty hardy (I've seen on FB groups people devastated their baby tortoises have died out of the blue).

I think a table is better than a vivariam partly due to air flow and partly because tortoises actually need varied temperature options. They need a lamp to sunbathe under to get warm and then a cooler end to retreat to if they get too hot. They control their temp by moving between the two. It's hard to provide the required temperature variation in a viv (not bashing them as I've not had one but that's the explanation I've seen given). Also, they tend to need a larger area than vivs provide. My table is 8ft x 4ft approx. I think if you get a baby, a humid hide is a good idea to prevent pyramiding of the shell.

Thanks for the info re tortoise tables Prequelle and Starlight39 definitely food for thought.

He does bump into the glass doors a lot (and has figured out how to slide them open ) although it is ventilated, but perhaps a table might be a better option for him.

There's so much information here, thanks to all of you.
I feel a little less gung ho about the idea than I did, I've no idea where I'd keep an 8ft tortoise table for a start, unless it replaces our bed.
Not completely sure how I'd go about explaining that to my husband.

I'll research the subject to death and make an informed decision, thanks again.

I had a Tunisian and a Herman's while pregnant and was really looking forward to raising them with my dcs. Sadly dm and said tortoises took to each other and now my dm has a Tunisian and a Herman's which I get to visit occasionally. They are however living the life of Reilly

Freddie the tortoise is in the garden...and my bad books

The little git managed to traverse his way over a high rock, under a kayak, round a fence to find apparently the only hole in the garden and escape

He made it through the next door garden into my friends garden

He was attempting to do the same today but the rock is now on bricks!

Ha!!!

Naughty tortoise ...you would expect better behavior from a 73/74 year old!

He lives in the house in early spring and autumn and in a box in the shed during the winter

I would love another tortoise when Freddie goes, but they live for up to 100 years!

We adopted another two tortoises a while back from a local tortoise society, but for various reasons had to give them up

He kept coming to the garden step so dh built him a ramp so he could explore the patio

He took a shit outside the kitchen door EVERY morning

No ramp for him anymore!