All about tortoises - How to Have a Healthy Tortoise Enclosure.
Posted: Monday, September 13, 2010
by Ellie Bear
http://www.tortoisetips.com
If you are planning on getting a tortoise to care for you will need to think about a few very important things before you make the huge commitment to buy one. Here are a few issues you should be aware of about tortoises' health and well-being and how to maintain it.
In order to maintain a healthy environment for your chelonian you should do a little research, either online or through reading reference books on the subject. Ensure your chosen text has some authority as there are a number of poorly written and frankly some contain conflicting and wrong advice.
1. What type of tortoise would be the right choice for you and your lifestyle. Taking into account who you live with, are there small children or other animals such as cats or dogs. If you choose to add a tortoise to this already potent mix you should provide a secure, safe environment for it to live in as even though they do have a hard shell they can very easily be injured by an over enthusiastic toddler or curious cat or dog!
2. In order to choose the right species for you, you should take into account what size it will grow to when it matures, what type of enclosure it needs to remain healthy and what sort of food it will require? These issues may at first glance appear to be simple but if you get this wrong you and your pet may be headed for disaster! Some plants are poisonous for a tortoise and if you are planning on providing an outside enclosure you should know the type of plants growing in your garden.
3. Specifically you need to ensure the enclosure is large enough for your tortoise to wander, burrow and hide sufficiently enough in order for it not to become stressed and therefore ill. A small commercially available rabbit hutch will just not provide the right environment. If you really want to know about tortoises and what they require in their artificial enclosure you should be aware of their natural environment. If you try to mimic this as closely as possible you cannot go far wrong.
4. All tortoises need to have a space in their enclosure to hide in. If you decide on a glass vivarium, not necessarily the best choice of home, but if you do have one you may want to cover three sides of the glass to provide some privacy? This of course negates the reasons for having a glass enclosure in the first place but if you are concerned about tortoises health rather than your desire for a pretty display you should consider this.
This is just a brief snapshot of some of the things you should be thinking about before you decide to buy your pet tortoise. The best advice is always to initially do some research into your chosen species and then you should be able to provide as close to a natural habitat as possible for your pet. If you do you will have a pet for life and become an expert in all things about tortoises and their needs.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I was interested to see that tortoises need to have a place to hide!Yes if tortoises are too 'out in the open' they can become stressed... so providing them with convenient hidy-holes or enough substrate in which to burrow will ensure they are content..
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