can a tortoise be kept indoors?

Question

my son wants a tortoise for this birthday he has wanted one for ages can he keep it in the house and let it wander about or does he need to get a special tank with lamps and stuff some advice please i want to help him make a informed discision

Answer 1

When I was a child tortoise could be bought in any pet shop for half a crown each.
(12.5p).
They were usually left to roam free in the garden and fed on leaves from the kitchen
or ones that you collected.
Everybody painted thier house number on their tortoise so that if it wandered of your
mates would bring it back.
In the winter they were brought in, put into a box full of hay and left in the garden
shed for the winter.
If they survived the winter that was great, but if they died you could always get
another one. Most did not come out of "hibernation".
To get to this country they were collected in the wild from the eastern mediteranean
countries, packed into boxes in their hundred and shipped on a long slow voyage
to the U.K..
Some did not survive the journey, the ones that did (about 60%) were sent to the
pet shops.
After the first winter about another 25% had died of starvation as the were packed
in to a box with news paper or some such inedible packing material for their
"hibernation".
This was all stopped in the late seventies when they were brought under the
protection of the United Nation CITIES Charter.
CITIES means the convention in international trade in endangered species.
It protects endangered animals, birds and plants from being traded unless they are
captive bred by licensed breeders.
All animals that are offered for sale from these lists must have a certificate that
identifies where the specimen has come from and the species,this is called an
Article 10 certificate.
Some species are not lised under cities and do not require an article 10.

In the wild tortoise mostly came from Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia and North Africa
for the pet trade.
Now most people know that these are quite warm countries, the winters in these
places are not as cold as ours and not as long, usually about two months of
cooler weather in January and February.
This is when the tortoise naturally go into hibernation.
If the weather is warm enough they wil come out and feed.
The cold weather hibernation also prepares the tortoise's body for the
breeding season.
So you can see that a six month forced hibernation is not really needed and could be
detremental to the tortoise.
Now most of us go to these countries for the sun shine and that is exactly what the
tortoise need to keep them healthy, lots of sun shine.
We do not get enough sunshine to keep a toroise healthy in this country normally.
What turns us brown is the ultra violet radiation from the sun light, this make
vitamins A & D in our system.
It is the same for your tortoise, they need these vitamins made by the UV light to
absorb calcium from their food to make their shells and bones.
This can be recreated in the home by the use of a reptile flourescent tube.
The warnth of the sun can be simulated by using a heat mat or a basking lamp.
These would need to be fittted in an escape proof and safe enviroment, such as a
vivarium.
Tortoise are naturally vegetarian so will eat almost any vegetation given to them.
Try them with leaves such as letuce of varoius diferent types not just iceberg.
Also try thing like carrot grated and apple sliced.
I know they like peas in the pods and corn on the cob.
As an emergency food frozen mixed veg in great, the mixture is usually peas,
corn, carrots, green beans and broad beans.
Defrost it and feed dressed with calcium powder, as all their food should be.
Remove all uneaten food from the vivarium daily and clean any dropping from
the cage daily also.
Cleaning should be done regulary and a reptile safe disinfectant should be
employed to sterilise the vivarium.
There are many types of flooring, shredded paper, hay, wood chip or calcium sand.
Please do not use beach sand, bird sand or childrens play box sand as this is made
of silica and will cause problems if it is ingested. I find the wood based cat litter can
be a problem as it breaks down in to saw dust when it is wet.
I use beech wood chips for my tortoise and have no problems.
It is large enough that if the tortoise gets it into its mouth it will feel it and spit it out.
It is dry and aborbent so drying the dropings quickly.
Tortoise can be kept warm all year round in this way and do not need to be
hibernated unless you are going to breed them.
Remembr these are long term pets that can live over fifty years.

Answer 2

I have a tortoise which we keep indoors. It lives in a big open wooden box covered in maize with a section closed off for it to go to sleep in. We recently built it a big extension so he has more space to roam about in the day time. But lately he was less lively than usual and we noticed his shell underneath was starting to go white and the vet told us he had shell rot. It was because of the lighting he had. The man we bought him from told us it was the right lighting but it wasn't, so make sure that you do have the right light and the tortoise will be fine indoors! I had a tortoise a few years ago that got calcium deficiency because in winter we didn't put him outside as much because it was cold, and he didn't get the amount of calcium we needed so make sure he has lots of calcium, there are special calcium treats that can be bought. That tortoise was also very tiny and so i think it's best to get one that is a little bit older if it is the first time you will own a tortoise, as that one was too dependent on us being so young and we didn't have enough information to make sure he had everything he needed. I also had one as a child that lived indoors and lived happily til a very old age!

Answer 3

please don't get one on a whim. They are exotic creatures with specific needs and dietry requirements. You cannot simply let it run about indoors. You will need a tortoise table with heat lamp and some substrate. You need to allow it to bath in warm shallow water every other day to drink and eliminate. They need a purely vegetarian diet in the main with nothing high protein like beans or peas etc. You need to add nutrobal to the diet a couple of times a week and they need a form of calcium for the shell. I would not say they make good pets and they certainly don't make good pets for children as frankly they are hard work and pretty boring.
I have a 50 year old one which was foinf wandering locally. He had been fed wrongly causing liver and shell damage, his shell had beeb drilled and broken several times and he has a massive infection in his eustacian tubes. I had to travel 50 miles to find a specialist tortoise vet to get him treated. Presently he is hibernating and stays asleep from the end of November to the end of March or April.

Answer 4

Turtles and Tortoise belong to the same family called Testudines. However, the Tortoise is a member who is well adapted to living on land and only aproaching water to drink or bath. They have a larger domed shell and thicker/more stocky legs than the Turtle. Turtles genarally have smaller legs and spend a lot of time swimming in water as well as being able to venture onto land. Their shell is much flatter than that of the Tortoise, making it more streamlined for swimming. In other words yes you can let it rome around.

Answer 5

I have a russian tortoise. He is in a 50 gallon tank with a UV bulb and heat lamp. He is 7 inches long. They do need a large enclosure. I do take him outside in the summer to get natural sun and keep him in a large rubbermaid so he cannot escape. You dont want a tortoise to wander about without being watched. They can disappear quite quickly plus they do poop alot!

Answer 6

Im sorry those people gave you such horrible answers.


All turtles do best in captivity when kept in outdoor enclosures in the area they are native to. Tortoises can be kept indoors, but to give it proper lighting is very challenging and expencive. Withought proper lighting the poor guy can become deformed, not grow, or actually grow too large for his shell (the shell needs the lighting to keep up) and his organs will smush inside. You definatly need to get a proper tank/turtlebox/rubbermaid container to house it in There are many types of tortoises to choose from and you need to do so carefully. This is a website that will teach you much of what you will need to know before buying a tortoise.

http://www.tortoise.org/geninfo.html
http://www.gctts.org/

Good luck!

Answer 7

I have a greek tortoise that I keep in a 20 gallon terrerium. I would recommend a 30 gallon however. Currently he is waddling around my room. I let him run around indoors 3-4 times a week. Good luck.

Answer 8

they need to be in a vivarium(a large wooden box with sliding glass doors) or a tortoise table( an open topped box with sides on approx.5-10 inches high depending on the size of tortoise). during the day they need a 5% uvb tube to mimic daylight and help them absorb vitamin d3. also at one end of the box they need a clear spot bulb to help the temperature at one end reach approx. 90-95 degrees farenheit. the cooler end should be approx. 75- 80 degrees faren(depending on the breed).at night the temp is best not to go below 60 degrees faren.if your house is cold on a night you may need night heating such as a heat mat(only use this taped to the side of the enclosure, not on the bottom. as a tortoise can overheat!) or a ceramic bulb with thermostat.(this method is more expensive, but more controlable) buy 2 thermometers to keep check.

Answer 9

it all depends on what kind of tortoise it is. u should ask the sales rep at the pet store how to take care of it. hope ure kid ain't too young for it though. they are a responsibility, maybe worst than cats or puppies.

Answer 10

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