Are You Ready To Adopt Your Very Own Tortoise? Read about Things To Know about Tortoises before ou do it.
Suppose you have answered yes, great. If you’re not sure, well, we will help.
1. Tortoises Cannot Live Outside Of Their Natural Habitat
Tortoises cannot survive in an environment that is too different from their natural habitat.
Despite being domesticated for a long while now, they are still wild animals who require an environment close to their ideal one. Tortoises have a temperament to get bored easily, so if you are planning on getting one, make sure you have disposable time on your hands to dedicate to caring for your tortoise.
The activity of enzymes within the cells of tortoises helps them withstand minuscule dehydration for smaller durations of time. Still, these mechanisms fail to work when their environment’s climatic conditions are different from those of their natural habitat.
2. Tortoises Require A Lot Of Space, And Cannot Be Housed With Other Animals
It is best to keep tortoises secluded in outdoor pens with ample space for the tortoise. If you have a species that will eventually grow large, an enclosure that occupies the reptile without ample space to romp causes them extreme stress, which more often than not results in the death of these docile and sweet creatures.
3. A Tortoise’s Diet Should Consist Mostly Of Leafy Vegetables And Grasses
Here is how you make your tortoise a healthy tortoise, rather than at Greedy Tortoise.
The diet: A tortoise owner can never compete with a colorful diet of grass, flowers, fruits, herbs, fungi, succulents, other animals like snails, etc. If you own a pet, the only way to determine the food preferences of your tortoise is by trial-and-error method.
Try feeding your tortoise with a patch of lawn or an indoor plant. The greatest way to start with sustainable food habits is while rearing hatchlings.
Generally, the best diet for tortoises is the one with high fiber and low protein. The majority of nutrients come from grasses and vegetables rather than fruits that provide empty calories that lead to weight gain.
Make it a habit to not feed your tortoise all at once but portion out its food in smaller and frequent meals of varying proportions.
Variety in plant-based foods is tortoises’ favorite.
Produce: With minor variations depending on the species of tortoise you have, 80% of a tortoise’s diet should consist of vegetables such as mustard, kale, collard greens, and dandelions.
Green and yellow bell peppers, squash or cauliflower, and sweet potatoes also make great tortoise feeding options. Make sure that they are offered fresh whenever you do.
Fruit: Fruits should make up to 5-10% of a tortoise’s diet. Offer your tortoise oranges, melon, kiwis, berries, and other fruits during every third or fourth feeding.
Other: Timothy and Alfalfa hay and other commercial tortoise food can also be fed to tortoises at all times.
4. You Should Only Buy A Tortoise If You Are Willing To Provide For Its Needs The Rest Of Its Life
When given less attention than required, pets can resort to destructive behavior. Rather than waiting for your pet tortoise to go on a boredom-influenced rampage, it is necessary to provide your tortoise with toys and accessories that keep them actively occupied. Important point in our list of Things To Know about Tortoises.
Of course, tortoises don’t necessarily need toys, but every pet deserves an environment that promotes ample mental and physical health.
Some might prefer to call the items that enrich their environment toys; some might prefer accessories. For example, moist hides, bathing dishes, rocks, locks, and dirt mounds work best as objects of tortoise entertainment.
Such objects keep your tortoise engaged in constructive mental and physical stimulus, which leads to a longer and healthier life for them.
5. Before Buying A Tortoise, Make Sure You Have Enough Time To Care For It
Do you want to own a pet to keep you occupied during your current uneventful phase of life? Or are you planning to raise a pet as a child of your own?
If the former is your reason for getting a pet, do not get a tortoise as your pet at any cost!
Tortoises need to be cared for around the clock, and they easily live up to 50-70 years. So not only will you have to care for a tortoise for practically all your life, if you are looking for amusement from your tortoise, you couldn’t be more mistaken. Getting a tortoise as a pet is in no way similar to getting a dog, cat, or a bird as a pet. Tortoises like to bask in their world created by you. They’re not as interactive or gleeful as most other pets.
6. Tortoises Cannot Survive For Long In Temperatures Below 10 Degree Celsius
Being cold-blooded, tortoises need to be kept in a warm environment at all times.
Temperatures below 22 Degree Celsius should be avoided. The ideal basking area temperature is 33-38 Degree Celsius with the cooler end of the enclosure being not less than around 29 Degree Celsius.
To synthesize vitamin D3, tortoises and most other reptiles require UVB rays, preferably from sunlight. If the sunlight in the region of your residence does not provide the necessary UVB rays, installing UV fluorescent bulbs with 10% output at least is to be provided.
If you opt for an artificial screen or cage indoors, artificial lighting arrangements are an absolute necessity.
After reading the article, you might think that having a pet tortoise is too much work. It is. But if your love for the species and the desire to own it is genuine, we encourage you to go out and bring one home. Hope this article helps you to care for it without any trouble to you or your baby tortoise. Hope you love reading about “Things To Know about Tortoises”
Please share “6 Things To Know about Tortoises before You Adopt One” with friends and family.
