TORTOISE DIET & CARE SHEET
Weather permitting tortoises in the U.K. benefit greatly from being outside. This gives them access to the natural source of U.V from sunlight, a greater area for free roaming & provisions of suitable garden foods that are alive and growing. Having said that you must tortoise proof your garden or better still provide a smaller enclosure so that you can locate your tortoise. It is unwise to allow your tortoise to stay out overnight without the provision of a secure home. Your enclosure is best constructed of solid sides, preferably backfilled with topsoil & sited in full sun as shade is much easier to create. (The purple pet tortoise seed mix is available for sowing in outside enclosures). The U.K. climate is generally warm enough for days outside during high summer when air temperatures exceed 20°C. When this is not available indoor accommodation is essential. Housing - Two types of tortoise home are generally used. A standard wooden style vivarium of suitable size or more popularly an open topped tortoise table (glass homes are not recommended). In both cases the addition of U.V. lighting and a basking heat source is essential. Artificial U.V. provisions for reptiles are essential for healthy bone development and are available in 3 different formats; 1 - A tubular strip light for which you will need a starter unit to operate with a replacement tubes being required annually. (A separate heat lamp should be used).2 - A compact screw fit U.V. These lights run at around 25 watts and resemble an energy saver bulb, they are ideal for smaller enclosures and also require replacing annually. (A separate heat lamp should be used).3 - A mercury vapour combined heat and U.V. emitting lamp. These are higher in output, 100 watt up to 160 watts. This type of lamp cannot be regulated by thermostatic control, making them unsuitable for most wooden style vivariums, however they are hugely beneficial for use with open topped homes as your tortoise will naturally bask under the lamp giving maximum exposure to the U.V. These lamps continue to emit U.V. in excess of a year and generally only require replacing when it fails to operate altogether. We would recommend the use of an open topped unit with this type of bulb for your tortoise as the heat produced can escape naturally. Open topped units are for use where the general air temperature is above 20°C. Wooden vivariums are useful to use where this air temperature is not available as they retain heat supplied to them. A separate compact or strip U.V. lamp must be used in this situation in conjunction with a basking lamp. Ideally the temperature inside the vivarium should be regulated by means of a dimming thermostat to maintain a cool area at all times. Smaller units are difficult to segregate a hot and cool area within and therefore the larger the vivarium the better. Basking temperatures for tortoises during the day can exceed well over 100°C provided that a cooler area of the late 70°C is provided. This gradient is easily established with the open topped method. All the lighting in respect of either style should be on for 12 - 14 hours per day & switched off overnight to allow for a night time temperature drop within a room temperature environment.The vitamin supplement NUTROBAL should be used twice weekly by sprinkling on food items & we would recommend that CALCI-DUST be used on the other available days. Cuttlefish should be left within the enclosure for self regulation access to calcium.Drinking Water must always be clean and available within a shallow dish that your tortoise can wade through and get in and out of safely. Bathing of your tortoise in baby warm water will generally be much appreciated and beneficial to wellbeing. We recommend the use of a clean cat litter tray filled to a suitable level (chin level). This practice cannot be over done! Sexing of young tortoises is virtually impossible. Once large enough as opposed to old enough males will develop a thumb like tail and a concave plastron but may display courtship rituals before either of these traits is present. Feeding of your tortoise is done on a daily basis and consists of 90% leafy vegetables and 10 % fruit (if at all). Wild plants are a wonderful source of food for tortoises. They are very low in water content, low in protein, low in fat and high in fibre - they grow abundantly during summer, cost nothing and provide a balanced diet. Suggested edible plants; Dandelions, Chickweed, Dead nettle, Sow thistle, Vetches, Clover, Mallows and plantain are some among many. When natural plants are not available supplement with items such as; Spring Greens, Watercress, Rocket, Cabbages, Carrot peelings & tops, Cos or Romaine Lettuce and mixed salad bags. Fruit items are really treats but fresh figs and papaya are very high in calcium making them a good selection. Variety is key for a balanced diet so don't solely rely on one or two favourite food items. Foods to avoid consist of, Mushrooms, Onions, Citrus, Peas & Beans, Bananas and potato peelings. (toxic garden plants such as ivy, buttercup, conifers, digitalis and members of the Rhododendron family are toxic to tortoises and shouldn’t be deliberately fed). Hides should be placed in their home anywhere but directly under the basking lamp. Tortoises like to burrow and if using a good depth of substrate will disappear completely underneath. Bedding is something you may want to experiment with. We would suggest you use either Prorep "tortoise life" substrate, hemp or coconut fibre bricks that are soaked in water expanding to a clean soil like substrate. We would not suggest the use of the bricks in melamine housing to prevent "blowing" of the vivarium.Cleaning is usually done as is needed ( your nose will tell you when) as it depends on the size of the tortoise home and the size of the tortoise itself. We suggest that you use a good reptile disinfectant, replace all the bedding and keep water & food bowls clean. Health wise Tortoises are long lived hardy creatures and with the correct environment, regular bathing & a good appetite your growing tortoise should continue to gain weight and thrive. Worming your tortoise once a year at your vets is a good routine to establish and tortoises over 10cm in length on the underside of the shell (plastron) are large enough to microchip. This is a requirement by DEFRA for applications for permanent paperwork. Hibernation is a natural process to all Mediterranean tortoises. It is literally a period of time that is too cold for normal activity to take place. For most tortoises their country of origin experiences warmer conditions in autumn and spring with a much shorter winter hibernation period. During this time period tortoises dig in underground, cease all activity until the warmer weather with spring food starts again. In the U.K. it should not be assumed that you will be able to hibernate your tortoise all winter. A cooling off period (* see below) of a least 3 weeks should be undertaken to allow for any digested food to pass through your tortoise as undigested food will decay within the system once shut down in hibernation. The optimum temperature for hibernation is 5°C with no danger of freezing. Between 2°C and 8°C is acceptable. For a steady 5°C temperature to be maintained we would recommend the use of a plugged in working refrigerator housed indoors & set at this temperature. Regular opening of the door is required for an air exchange and frequent health and weight checks of your tortoise will not disturb it at all. We recommend that you do not hibernate any tortoise you feel is unwell or underweight and during hibernation allow 10% of the overall body weight to be lost. If and when this percentage is reached it will be time to stop hibernating by warming the tortoise with a bath of warm water and re-introducing to the enclosure at the normal activity temperatures. Feeding and normal behaviour patterns for your tortoise should be resumed within a 7 day period. Younger tortoises may be kept awake all year within indoor accommodation or hibernated for a shorter period.*A minimum 3 week cooling off period consists of: reduced light exposure, tepid bathing, place in a suitable roomy ventilated box with a deep top soil base and shredded paper above, provide a shallow water dish, place in a 5°C environment and check regularly.For further reading on the subject of hibernation we recommend visiting thetortoisetrust.org online.
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