CALIFORNIA TURTLE & TORTOISE CLUB
CARE OF DESERT TORTOISES
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INTRODUCTION
This care-sheet provides information on caring for adult desert tortoises and their hatchlings. The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is endangered in the wild and is protected under Federal and State laws. It is illegal to buy or sell desert tortoises, or to take them from the desert. In California, a permit is required to possess desert tortoises. Obtaining a permit is simple. Contact the California Department of Fish and Game, or the California Turtle and Tortoise Club for a permit application. The California Department of Fish and Game provides a tag to attach to the tortoise, and this is a useful way of identifying your tortoise if it should stray. California Turtle and Tortoise Club Adoption Chairs now tag all tortoises that are placed through the CTTC adoption programs.
For good reason, it is against the law to release captive desert tortoises back into the wild. Released captives have a low survival rate, and may pass diseases into the wild population with devastating consequences. Contact the California Turtle and Tortoise Club if you need to find a new home for a tortoise.
CARE OF ADULT DESERT TORTOISES
Housing | Feeding | Sexing | Health | Hibernation
Desert tortoises are known to live as long as 60-80 years, and probably may live even longer. Because growth varies with food availability and other conditions and tortoises grow faster in captivity it is impossible to determine the exact age of an adult tortoise.
HOUSING
In order to thrive, adult desert tortoises must be kept outdoors in a large area. They should be provided with shelter from the sun and cold, and a place to retire at night. They need plenty of room to exercise and browse. If possible, give them the run of your entire yard. Make sure that the yard is escape-proof and that pools are fenced off. Eliminate any poisonous plants, and do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers in the area. It is cruel and inhumane to tether a tortoise by the legs or by holes drilled in the shell.
FEEDING
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| Desert tortoise dining on dandelion Photograph by Michael J. Connor |
Healthy tortoises have enormous appetites! Growing grass, weeds, dandelions, alfalfa, nopales (Opuntia cactus), and rose and hibiscus flowers are excellent food sources. Supplement this diet with vegetables such as endive, escarole, broccoli, squashes such as zucchini, chopped carrots, mixed vegetables, small amounts of kale, romaine and other dark-green leafy vegetables. Sprinkling the food with ground-up rabbit or guinea pig pellets is a good way to add extra fiber to the diet. Tortoises have a high calcium requirement: occasionally sprinkle the food with calcium carbonate or offer a calcium-rich source such as boiled chicken eggshells or cuttlefish bone for them to eat. Occasionally sprinkle the food with a suitable vitamin preparation. Provide a shallow dish of water for drinking and soaking.
SEXING
Desert tortoise hatchlings have a flat plastron (bottom shell) until they reach about 8 inches in length (10-15 years of age in the wild; 5-10 years in captivity). At this time the plastron of the male becomes noticeably concave, whereas the female's plastron remains flat. Adult males also have longer gular horns, a longer tail, and enlarged glands under the chin.
Shortly after emerging from hibernation male tortoises will begin pursuing the females. Male tortoises will frequently fight with each other at this time. Because of the risk of one being overturned, it may be necessary to keep males separate from each other. Sometime between May and July females will begin to carefully search for a suitable site to dig their nests, in which they will lay a clutch of 2 to 12 ping-pong ball sized eggs. Often they will undertake several "trial" excavations in the process. Occasionally a female may lay more than one clutch in a season.
HEALTH
It is important that the keeper gets to know the normal behavior of his/her tortoise because behavioral changes are often the first sign of illness. Tortoises are susceptible to respiratory ailments, such as the Upper Respiratory Tract Disease that has decimated the wild population in California and Nevada. Warning signs are a runny or bubbly nose, loss of appetite, and gasping. Respiratory disease can often be cured if treatment is begun immediately. For swollen eyes, wounds or injuries contact a veterinarian immediately. Sick or wounded tortoises must be moved inside away from flies. Worms and other parasites are sometimes a problem in desert tortoises. Symptoms such as loss of weight, and lack of energy for no apparent reason are an indication.
The California Turtle and Tortoise Club maintains a list of veterinarians who treat tortoises.
HIBERNATION
Usually by late October as the days become cooler, the tortoise will eat less, bask less, and appear sluggish. A suitable hibernation place may have to be provided. Some tortoise owners use a dog house insulated with a thick layer of dry soil, leaves, or shredded newspaper. The entrance should be covered with a tarp to protect it from flood or rain.
Many keepers prefer to "store" their pets in the garage. The tortoise is placed in a stout cardboard box, that is deep enough that it cannot climb out, and is covered with insulating layers of newspaper. The box is placed up off the cement floor in an area free from drafts or rats. If the box is placed in your garage, remember not to run automobile engines because of the risk of poisoning from the fumes. A cool closet is also a safe place for hibernation.
Some tortoises will build a burrow, and in some areas may successfully hibernate themselves. However, before allowing this, consider the location of the burrow. If there is a significant risk of flooding from heavy rainfall do not allow your pet to hibernate there.
A hibernating tortoise should be checked periodically. A sleeping tortoise will usually respond if its foot is touched. If the tortoise should waken, encourage it to return to sleep. When the days begin to warm, around March or April, the tortoise will become active in its storage box. At this time, a warm bath should be given, and the tortoise will often take a long steady drink. Within a week or two it should resume its normal activity of eating, exercising and sunbathing.
It is important that a tortoise be plump and in good health before hibernating; otherwise, it may not survive the winter. By the end of the summer, a well fed tortoise will form fat reserves around its shoulders and legs.
DO NOT HIBERNATE A SICK OR INJURED TORTOISE!
If for some reason you do not wish your tortoise to hibernate, it must be brought indoors and kept at a warm temperature (75-85° F) for it to remain active. It will require room for exercising and regular feedings.
CARE OF HATCHLING DESERT TORTOISES
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Hatchling Desert Tortoise
Photographs by Julia Gillin |
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Housing | Feeding | Hibernation
Like other tortoises, desert tortoises hatch from their eggs with the help an "egg tooth" or caruncle on the tip of their snout. They are folded over inside the eggs, and their shells do not harden until after they hatch. The shell may remain flexible for a few weeks, but should harden with proper diet and sunlight. After it pips the egg shell, a hatchling may wait inside the egg until the yolk sac is absorbed. If the yolk sac is large when the hatchling leaves its egg, place the hatchling on clean wax paper until the yolk is absorbed. Take care during the first few days to avoid rupturing the yolk sac. A ruptured yolk sac can lead to a hatchling becoming infected, or even bleeding to death.
It is almost impossible to determine the sex of a new born tortoise from its shape. While few hatchlings survive to adult size in the wild, losses in captivity are not so great, and with proper care most hatchlings will thrive.
HOUSING
A large glass aquarium is suitable for hatchlings as it allows sufficient room for movement and has sides that are high enough to protect them from drafts.
Newspaper, paper towels, rabbit or guinea pig pellets, sterile dry potting soil (screened for broken glass, plastic etc.), or garden dirt may be used to cover the floor of the tank. Whatever floor covering is used, it must be kept clean. A hide box should be provided for sleeping. Hatchlings should not be placed with larger tortoises or they may be injured.
HEATING AND LIGHTING
Hatchlings do best when kept in a temperature gradient of 75-90° F (24-32° C) during the day falling to 70-75° F (21-23° C) at night. A temperature gradient can be achieved by heating one end of the tank using a heating pad set on low, an under tank heating pad, or a light bulb and leaving the other end unheated. The temperatures generated by these methods will depend upon the size of the aquarium or terrarium, and on the temperature of the room it is located in. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature. A full spectrum fluorescent lamp such as a Vitalite, mounted above the tank, will provide some of the elements of sunlight. The light should be turned off at night.
SUNLIGHT
When the temperature is above 70° F (21° C) the hatchlings should be allowed outdoors to graze and to bask in the sun as much as possible; however, they must have shade available at all times. They should be placed in an enclosed area covered with chicken wire or similar netting to protect them from birds, cats, dogs, rats and other predators. Check them frequently as they tip over easily.
NEVER put tortoises or turtles outside in a glass aquarium: it could heat up like a greenhouse, and hatchlings can succumb to overheating very easily.
FEEDING
Offer a well-chopped variety of food several times a day, as their intake is small. Hatchlings should be fed a mix of weeds, grasses, flowers, greens and vegetables. This may include: garden weeds such as dandelions, grass, hibiscus and rose flowers, clover, nopales (Opuntia cactus), endive, escarole, alfalfa, kale, broccoli, romaine. Avoid feeding ice-berg lettuce, because of its poor nutritional value.
Twice a week, sprinkle powdered calcium carbonate on the food, and twice a month sprinkle the food with a vitamin preparation such as Vionate, Reptivite or Superpreen. Broken calcium carbonate pills or cuttlebone can be left in the enclosure for the tortoises to eat at will. Hatchlings should be allowed to soak and drink in a shallow dish of water at least 2 times per week. The dish should be small enough so that they can get in and out by themselves. Liquid vitamin preparations may be added to the water at each soaking.
HIBERNATION OF HATCHLINGS
Many tortoise owners feel that hatchlings housed indoors should remain active and not be allowed to hibernate for the first one or two winters. When they do hibernate, keep them at a temperature of about 50° F (10° C) in a dark area with clean dry leaves or shredded paper in which they can burrow. Check them frequently. If they awaken, they should be soaked in lukewarm water and food should be offered.
Visit CTTC's Chelonian Archives and The Turtle Gallery
for more desert tortoise information.
