| Care Guide for the Testudo |
| Tortoises |
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| Tortoises Breeding Pens |
Most the species of tortoises we work with belong to the genus "Testudo". Below, we've included a very basic care sheet for the Testudo species we breed (Russians, Libyans, and Golden Greeks) to give our customers the basics as to their care. Please take the time to read it before purchasing your tortoise. While we've kept tortoises off and on for many years, we are fairly new at tortoise breeding. So much of this information is very basic care information rather than the more detailed care and breeding information we supply for our Uromastyx. Use your common sense and get more than one opinion before making any major changes in how you keep your animals. Better sites to read for more detailed information include "The World Chelonian Trust" (http://www.chelonia.org/), "The Tortoise Trust" (("http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/articles.html")) and "Chelonians UK" ((http://www.cheloniauk.com/). Please read those sites' care sheets for more exacting information. Please note the following care sheet is only applicable for Russian, Spur Thigh (aka: Greek), and Golden Greek tortoises. Other species may have drastically differing needs so use this information with caution.
Our availability is sporadic, so please e-mail or call us (360 435-2679) if you're looking for tortoises for companion animals or breeders. We keep a "Wanted" list and fill it as specimens become available. Please see "Deer Fern Farms Ordering / Pricing" for ordering information. If you're in need of some furniture-quality caging, please visit our Custom Caging page to see if any of our specially designed cages can fit your needs for furniture quality oak caging for your home or office or breeding stock cages for producing your own hatchlings.
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| Waterland Tubs for Tortoise Breeding |
Our "For Sale" Specimens: We offer both captive-born tortoises as well as wild-collected specimens. As with our Uromastyx, we have a good working relationships with other breeders as well as arrangements with several of the largest importers to allow us the first (or close to it) picking privileges on most major importations of species of interest to us. We pay more per specimen for the privilege, but this insures we can obtain and offer the best specimens possible. We hold all our specimens until well acclimated (the biggest key to success with wild-collected specimens) before releasing any to our customers.
We are strong supporters of captive propagation efforts and are always looking to purchase additional healthy clutches produced by other breeders for resale to our customers. These are an excellent choice for pet and breeder specimens as long as they have been properly handled. They tend to be a more expensive than wild collected specimens, but if we don't support these efforts, the day will come when most species will be unavailable to future keepers. In our opinion, funneling a reasonable portion of wild-collected specimens into potential captive breeding programs is also one of the few legitimate justifications for collecting specimens from wild populations. Captive breeding also eventually reduces the demand for wild-collected specimens, easing pressures on wild populations. The extra cost is thus well justified. We constantly consult with other breeders to insure the specimens produced are as healthy and vigorous as possible. Thus if your goals are similar to ours -wanting truly the best specimens available with the best potential to thrive for you, please consider some of our tortoises, either wild-collected or captive-produced, for your breeders or pets.
General Husbandry
General
Temperament/Pet Qualities: Tortoises
in general have very engaging personalities and many species become quite tame.
They clearly react to their caretakers’ presence and often follow them around
the yard or house when let out to exercise. Most are non-aggressive
towards humans and other non-tortoise pets, easily fitting into domestic
life. While some species get quite large or have exacting environmental
requirements, the Testudo species we work with (Russians, Libyans, and
Golden Greeks) are moderate sized and relatively easy
to accommodate. They mature to less than 10”, and their environmental and
feeding needs can be reasonably met by the typical pet owner. They are enthusiastic eaters of a wide range of vegetarian foods, making
them easy to feed and less odiferous to house indoor verses many other
pets. They
generally do not need a water bowl in the cage (instead taking weekly or
alternate-weekly soaks) or daily feeding (hatchlings being an exception).
Thus they can occasionally be safely left unattended for a weekend when you need to be away.
Just set your lights on timers and go. They are calm by nature and when given the proper care are very
long-lived (50 years plus), making them an endearing, low maintenance addition
to your family.
Housing:
They do best in
cages with solid opaque sides such as large Rubbermaid containers ( livestock
watering troughs) or home-build wooden
terrariums. We suggest a minimum of 3’ x 2’ terrarium for singles and
non-breeding pairs
but shoot for as large a cage as your space allows. Floor space is the primary consideration, not height. Most our cages are
4’ x 2’ x 18” tall for non-breeders. Most
of the Testudo tortoises we work with (Russians, Libyan Spur Thigh, Golden Greeks) are dry heat lovers.
They must have a basking site that reaches around
95 F and a background temperature of around 86F. This is easy to produce with a reflector type bulb shining over a piece
of light flat slate or other suitable rock (note: don't use black rocks). Just make sure the light is placed high enough to prevent the animals
from reaching it and ideally have it shining down at a slight angle rather than
strait down. Overly
hot or cool daily temperatures cause them to seek shelter and sleep (hibernate
or aestivate) until conditions improve. Do NOT use hot rocks or similar "in-cage" electric underbelly
heaters. These
will not suffice and can cause serious injury to your animals. An under-the-tank heating pad is ok for supplemental heat,
especially for night heat, but the basking
light is still essential. The area farthest from the basking site should be in the upper 70's F,
permitting your animals to self-regulate their body temperature.
Night temps should be cooler, typical of their desert homes (mid 70's in
the summer, cooler for Russians in the winter but not the Libyan or Golden
Greeks). Along with the basking lights, we recommend installing a UVB producing
bulb such as Zoo-Med's Mercury Vapor bulbs, or an Arcadia Compact Fluorescent
bulb (we use
Bedding: Most Testudo tortoises are burrowers and need a deep substrate in which to bury themselves. We use cypress mulch as the bedding and keep it approx. 6” deep. They prefer to dig under some natural surface barrier such as a log, so we place a patio brick or plastic desking board (8" x 12" x 1" thick) glued onto 6" x 4" bricks in the cooler end of the tank to serve as a shelter. The goal is to produce a shelter just large enough for the tortoise to bury under without scraping the top of its shell. Note: make sure the rock is glued to its legs to insure it can’t crash down on top of a digging tortoise. Keep the bedding predominately dry; adding a little moisture only every few weeks as these tortoises have poor tolerance to damp conditions. We dampen the shelter area every other week and the whole cage once per month. The goal is to make the substrate just slightly damp, not wet! Make sure there is always some sheltered area in teh cage that is quite dry ad one that is just slightly moist and let them choose their spot. Usually the Russians will pick the slightly damp spot, as will many of the Libyans, but the Golden Greeks like it to be just barely damp and will abandon any spot that is any wetter. Note keeping all areas in the cage bone-dry all the time will lead to shell growth problems - especially in juveniles. They all need some place that has at least some low degree of moisture to keep the shell healthy. Likewise overly damp conditions will invariably lead to respiratory problems. Shell formation problems and respirator issues are THE biggest health issue with these tortoises. So we can't emphasize enough the importants of getting the shelter and cage moisture correct. Again, have two shelter areas - one very dry and one just slightly damp, with the rest of the cage dry, and you should be fine.
While we use millet and other small round seeds for bedding for our Uromastyx, these are NOT suitable for tortoises. Some breeders use soft Bermuda grass hay as bedding. This is fine but use it were your be adding any moisture as it will mold and cause significant problems. Likewise avoid alfalfa pellets in these situations. If you wish to use sand, be sure to use natural sand (feels round and smooth between your fingers). Washed playground sand, beach sand and desert sand all fit this definition. Man-made sands are made from crushing rocks and produce sand with rough edges that can interlock in the stomach, forming impactions that will require expensive surgery to remove to safe your animals life. Likewise avoid corncob bedding, crushed walnut shell, and be leery of calci-sand and super fine desert sands that are commonly sold in pet shops for bedding. All these tend to cause health issue so they are best if avoided.
___ Dandelion Greens ___
Diet: They are strictly herbivores and most will not (or should not) consume meat or insects. Our primary diet is composed of yard weeds such as dandelion greens and blooms, clover leaves and blooms, as well as various store bought greens such as Endive, turnip greens, Bok Choy, Escarole, and Romaine (avoid head lettuces). We supply edible flowers when in season including nasturtium, rose, clover, and especially hibiscus. We also offer soaked Mazuri Tortoise pellets which can be used as a complete diet if occasional greens are supplied as well. For animals needing extra weight gain, we offer frozen mixed veggies (peas, cut green beans, carrots, corn, lima beans - all thawed/warmed before feeding) - but use these VERY sparingly with tortoises. We dust the food three times per week with Miner-Al – (Indoor version) calcium/mineral supplement (contains vit. D3 plus various minerals). The frozen peas etc. must be lightly dusted every time offered. It's best not to feed spinach, beet greens, Swiss chard, or cabbage, and limit broccoli, kale and collard greens. These either bind important nutrients or tend to induce metabolic problems over time. Peas have their faults as well so can only be used very sparingly and mostly for specimens needing weight gain. You must supplement any peas/green beans every time with a dusting of a balanced mineral supplement (especially ones containing zinc, manganese, magnesium along with the more common additive calcium.
For
vitamin supplementation, we sprinkle Uromastyx Dust on the food weekly. When you’re going to be gone for a
few days, try to keep some cactus
pads in each cage (Opuntia sp, commercially produced as human grade food, found
de-spined at larger grocery stores). These
last for many days, allowing for periodic nibbling at will. These
tortoises commonly go months with minimal food in the wild and in general
are overfed in captivity.
Water:
We
don't normally offer water to them inside the cage but instead periodically
(every other week) soak them in a tub of very shallow (maybe ˝” deep), warm
water (mid80's to 90F).
Leave them undisturbed for 10 to 15 minutes and then return them to their
cage. You may also choose to
take a small very shallow tupperware container and place it in a front corner of
the cage and fill it with water once every few days. This only works if
you have a large cage and make sure the tortoises have a secure ramp so
they can easily get into AND out of the
container. If you use a container in the cage, change the water
daily. Tortoises commonly defecate in their water so you'll need to keep
close tabs on the water bowl.
Hopefully this covers the basic's you'll need to successfully keep and enjoy your
tortoise for many years to come. Enjoy!
(Copyright 1992-2006)
Email:
douglasdix@deerfernfarms.com
Copyright © 1992-2005 by Douglas Dix. All rights reserved for all photos and text
