Maintenance

The maintenance that your tortoise will require is average.
She will need:
- Food
- Water
- Decoration
- Calcium
- To have her claws clipped every 11 months

The caring for your tortoise is essential to good health. You will find that with such great care, you will find yourself with a happy healthy pet.

Habitat Maintenance

Once you purchase your tortoise, you will need a secure, happy home for him/her. Once you have purchased a 10 gallon terrarium or larger, there are a few simple steps that you will need to follow through with. First of all, you will need to put in some bedding. Here is a list of common beddings used for tortoises.

1. Alfalfa Meal (Found in most pet stores)
2. Douglas Fir Bark
3. Terrarium Liner (Found in most pet stores)
4. White Proso Millet

Second, you will need decoration. All I have in my tortoise terrarium are food and water dishes. I had a log in there, but my tortoise climbed on top of it. All that is reccomended is a pool large enough to fit your tortoise and a food bowl. Tortoises love to get their substrate into their dishes, so make sure your food dish is tall enough to keep out substrate while he/she is eating.

A Healthy Animal

In order to keep your tortoise healthy, you will want to pick up leftover food and feces out of the substrate daily, and depending on the type of substrate you have, you will want to clean out your Tortoise habitat once a month. Here are some signs of a healthy animal.

• Alert and Active
• Eats Regularly
• Clear Nose and Vent
• Clear, Bright Eyes
• Healthy Skin
• Healthy Shell

Here are some red flags.

• Soft, Discolored, or Rough Spots on Shell
• Sneezing, Mouth Breathing, Runny Nose
• Eye, Nose, or Moutn Discharge
• Abnormal Feces
• Lethargic

If any of these signs show up, please contact your animal veternarian.

Health Issues

One of the most common health issues in tortoises is Salmonella. Salmomella is a disease that can be transferred to humans, and if your Tortoise has it, he/she will not show any symptoms. To protect yourself and your Tortoise, when coming in contact with your Tortoise, wear powder free, latex free gloves. After you are done handling your Tortoise, throw the gloves away and do not reuse. Thouroughly wash your hands. Other common health issues are:

• Ticks and Mites - Symptoms: Parasites on the tortoise's skin. Can transmit disease to humans.
• Gastro-Intestinal Disease - Symptoms: Runny stools, caked or smeared stool around the vent area, loss of appetite; can be caused by bacterial or parasitic infection.
• Respiratory Disease - Symptoms: Labored breathing and/or runny nose. Can be caused by habitat being too damp or cold, or caused by an infectious disease.
• Metabolic Bone/Vitamin Deficiency - Caused by the Tortoise unable to absorb calcium due to insufficient UVB light. If this goes untreated, it can lead to a disorder characterized by deformities and softend bones. Lethargy and swollen limbs.

Feeding Your Tortoise

Feeding your tortoise is one of the biggest health issues and can cause serious illness if your tortoise is not fed properly. First of all, here is a list of foods that you may feed your tortoise.

•  Alfalfa
• Zucchini
• Pumpkin
• Carrots
• Dandelion
• Tomato
• Apples (Cored and Seedless)
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Land Turtle and Tortoise Dry Pellets (From a Pet Store)
• Romaine Lettuce

I give this to my tortoise every day with her food.

Here is a list of foods you may NOT feed your tortoise:

• Iceberg Lettuce
• Meat
• ANY type of wheat: noodles, bread, etc.
• Dog or Cat Food

This list could kill or seriously harm your tortoise. Please make sure you do not feed anything on this list to your tortoise.


Juvenile Tortoises and Turtles need calcium at least twice a week sprinkled onto their food. Adult Tortoises and Turtles need calcium at least once a week sprinkled onto their food. The calcium I use for my tortoise was found at Petco. Only for vegetable-eating:
Lizzards
Turtles
Tortoises

The Perfect Tortoise

Once you are at the pet store picking out your tortoise, you want to make sure you choose the right one, to avoid having a lifetime of unhappiness. Tortoises age ranges from 30 - 100 years. If you are planning on training your tortoise to be gentle with humans, you will want to pick one that is freindly. Pick one that is more active, or ask a specialist if by any chance any of the tortoises is sick, or has health issues. Ask for a care sheet, in case of sickness, habitat issues, etc. Make sure you hold the tortoises before to make sure their shell is not soft and none of their skin or shell is cracked.