Keeping A Pet Tortoise

Keeping a pet tortoise is perhaps an easier option than a pet turtle since they generally live outdoors. Many species of tortoises are also easier to feed, with diets consisting of flowers, vegetables, grass and the like, though exact needs vary with different species.

Keeping a pet tortoise is an enormous commitment. While the little creature itself may be easy to handle and clean up after, your pet may live for up to 100 years, meaning it could become a family heirloom! Only people prepared for a really long term commitment should consider a tortoise as a pet.

Look Before You Leap

Think about the tortoise you're looking at buying. It may make an ultra-cute hatchling, but how big will it get? The bigger it gets, the more food it will eat and the more cleaning you will have to do. There's also the handling aspect. Tortoise hatchlings are easy for you and your kids to handle, but what about when it's 50 centimetres long and weighs as much as a bag of cement? How cute is that?

When you're ready to buy, ask the breeder or (far less preferably) pet shop owner about maximum size. Be wary of pet store owners who will try to sell to you with vague promises of "not too big". If they don't know or won't tell you about the tortoise, go somewhere else to buy an animal.

Buy A Healthy Animal

As with most animals, excessive stress weakens the immune system of a tortoise. This stress can come from being trapped in the wild and transported for sale, or can arise from being kept in cramped or dirty conditions in a pet store. These two problems can be overcome by buying a captive bred tortoise from a professional breeder. These animals will also usually have had more experience of being handled before you buy them.

Aside from this, the regular indications of health should be kept in mind when looking to buy an animal. Look for good skin colour, clear eyes and nose and general activity of the animal. Sluggish behaviour may be the result of the tortoise being cold, but a poor skin colour is a sure sign that all is not well.

Good Pet Species

Have a think about maximum size of the animal, what sort of tortoise food you will need to provide, whether or not it burrows and their general temperement. Here are some of the more popular pet species.

The Russian Tortoise

This hardy tortoise can survive in a considerable range of conditions. It is quite small as an adult and able to feed on common garden weeds.

These facts make the Russian tortoise a popular pet choice.

What You'll Need To Provide

As with all pets, the initial purchase price is tiny compared to the costs of keeping the animal in good health. This is even truer for pet tortoises because of their long lifespan.

Indoor Living

For those (hopefully not very long) periods of indoor living, the tortoise will require a terrarium that is large enough for the tortoise to move around freely in, as well as the following:

* a UVA / UVB lamp, essential for their health
* a water dish that they cannot drown in
* a place to hide and hibernate
* a variety of foods including calcium and possibly vitamin supplements

Outdoor Living

In the wild tortoises wander around large areas looking for food. Tortoises kept inside all the time can get stressed and are more likely do develop a calcium deficiency due to insufficient UVB exposure. For this reason it is necessary to let your tortoise live outside whenever possible. But once again, you'll need to prepare for this. One unfortunate encounter with a cat or dog while you're inside fixing a coffee could spell the end for your little shelled friend.

For outdoors you'll need a secure, predator proof cage. If your pet tortoise is a burrower, the wire will have to extent underground to prevent escape.

This fenced area will also need to be big enough to allow the tortoise to roam and explore with some freedom.

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