Tortoise tank decor?

Question

I have a 2 year old hermanns tortoise and her tank seems pretty bare. She has a background with plants and things on just to make it look a little more exciting. But other than that she only has a hut to sleep in and her water and food dishes. I'm not sure on what other things i can put in because I don't want to provide any hazards eg - rocks etc where she can climb on and may fall on her back. HELP!

Answer 1

BE CAREFUL!

It is really easy to put stuff in the tank for decor or for a toy and have it harm the tortoise.

Plants are OK- real plants are great- as long as they are also a food source, since the tortoise WILL try to eat them. (By the way- it can be tough to fnid a plant that grows faster than the tortoise can eat it!) Fake plants should be kept out the tortoise's reach or it will try to eat those as well! I hang some vines across the top, well out of reach.

Hiding shelters and rocks are common. Tortoises LOVE to climb so giving it safe places to clamber over is good- as long as they can't fall too far, or so they don't get stuck. My young Redfoots love to climb their 1/2 log hideouts, and occasionally fall off. No big deal as long as it can right itself- which it usually can if it is not trapped.

Some large, flatish, fairly smooth rocks are good. My tank has an area of large river pebbles in it that they enjoy clattering around on.

Balls and other toys they cannot chew apart and that cannot hurt them are OK as well- if your tort plays with them. Young torts and certain species (cough*most mediterranian species*cough) are not quite bright enough to appreciate toys.

Food-based games are always good! [IMPORTANT NOTE: When using food as a game, BE SURE to not overfeed, or mess up the basic dietary principles for the species!!!]

Try using a 'vegetation clip' (fish store) or something to hold the greens up on the sides of the tank, scattered around in little hunks. Offer it an occasional earthworm- especially if you have a soil-based substrate! (After the tortoise gets used to worms, try giving one a headstart to hide.) Crickets are OK, but are known to nibble on sleeping animals. Small clean garden snails are another interesting 'toy'.

An occasional unusual foodstuff is also a good game, especially if it is brightly colored (which helps trigger eating). Take a small carrot and whittle a bunch of flakes all along it, leaving the flakes on so it looks like a little fir tree. Try a soft-boiled egg in the shell (A whole egg is too much for a young tort, so remove the rest after about 15 minutes.)

A bigger, but still shallow water dish can be fun for most tortoises- and a lot of keepers ahve mentioned they had fun putting a small fish in the dish and watching the tortoise watch and hunt it.

A note about falling: Tortoises in the wild fall, and sometimes land on their back. There is no special danger about being on the back for a short while (as long as there are no predators, or danger of overheating, chilling, or dehydration). Good design prevents this problem, but a watchful keeper will almost always rescue a tortoise before it gets in real trouble.

Answer 2

A big problem for caged animals of any type is boredom. People often asume that reptiles are not particularly bored in captivity, but I think that is because we miss the rather subtle clues to mood that reptiles exhibit.

Because food is provided by their owners on a regular schedule, and always in the same place, any animal lacks motivation, and life is much less interesting for it.

I would try and find a PVC tube that the tortoise can crawl through (without getting stuck, of course!). Also a hard rubber dog ball (small size) or other toy that you can change periodically won't hurt. (I do not expect it to play fetch with you...merely that giving itseomthing new to investigate and explore would be a good idea).

Answer 3

well, it's not just about what looks pretty, so it is best to keep it just plain and simple, so that your tortoise wont kill itself on a sharp rock. personally, it ticks me off when i see little castles and "no fishing" signs in tanks because the whole point of an animal's tank is to draw attention to the animal, not the expensive crap laying helter-skelter all around it. also, too much decorations might make it so the tortoise can't even move around in there.

i would suggest maybe planting a small plant that isn't toxic to tortoises, but something that she wont eat. i don't really know if there is such a plant, but you can look it up!

:)

Answer 4

I have a tortoise as well. I put a half of hollowed out log that i bought at a petstore once, for her to climb on, and she ended up flipping on her back, so i suggest not to use those. I now have meduim sized rocks that she likes to climb around on. Expirement with her cage and make one side of it have more bedding so that its sort of like a hill. I know my tortoise likes that.

Answer 5

Some low branches to climb over (they like exercise - a leopard tortoise I know will go out of her way to climb over 5-6" branches). I like the previous idea of a ball - the leopard I know likes to push around a garbage can that's on wheels when she's out, so pushing a ball around might be amusing for her.

Answer 6

get some fake plants and hand them from the top of her cage and put some on the bottom if you do not stack the rocks to high she cant fall of make sure they are pushed up against something so she cant fall behind them either and get some little turtle figurines and other little things like that to put in there these will not harm the turtle nor will the turtle harm them try to find something that says turtle crossing to put either in or on the front of the tank you can also put rocks that go in fish tanks on the bottom of her tank to give it some color

Answer 7

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-easthermanns.htm

If you look at the site it tells you what kind of tank decor should be in their.
Whomever voted a thumbs down is a effin idiot. Austins turtle page is one of the best pages out there.

Answer 8

I put live plants in mine like ferns, but if your not comfortable with putting plants in then you could get fake ones.

Answer 9

i would go to a local petstore... they have GREAT stuff and they'll provide info when asked

have fun!