Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live near rochester new york, so obviously my weather is not suited to keeping tortoises outdoors year round. Right now I have three russian tortoises that I keep indoors, but allow to roam outdoors during the warmer weather. In the future (probably towarsd the end of college, when I am getting ready to move out of my parents' house) I would like to get something larger, but I'm a little bit divided for a couple of reasons.

For one, i'm going to school to be a music teacher (specifically a band director for a middle school or high school), which would be a great job, if I could get a job doing it. Summers to hang with the tortoises, decent wages (supplemented by the drum lessons I already teach now). The problem is, there's a pretty good chance that I won't be able to find a job for a few years right out of college, or possibly ever, because it's becoming a pretty popular field, so I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch. I don't want to get something that would grow to be enormous like a sulcata that would really need a large outdoor pen, as well as some sort of very large winter quarters, if I may end up living in an apartment for quite some time.

So currently I was thinking something around the lines of a red-footed tortoise, leopard tortoise, marginated tortoise, and I'm not sure what else. I was hoping someone here would be able to fill in the blanks.

As far as keeping large african tortoises in northern climates, I've read some articles and talked to people that do it locally, and it can be done with success, but space is an issue, which is why I'm leaning more towards something mid-size.

If you read some of the posts below that I have answered or responded to, you will learn a bit about medium sized tortoises such as Marginateds.

Marginated Tortoises (Testudo marginata) are beautiful animals with good personalities and a tolerance for cold weather. They do get large, most up to 12 inches but they are nowhere near the size of a Sulcata or Leopard. I live in NJ so my climate is pretty much the same as yours, you just get more snow lol.

My adults stay outside from May until October and then spend from Thangiving until February in a refridgerator. This is where they hibernate at 40 degrees.

You can't go wrong with most of the mediterranean species of tortoise like marginateds, hermanns, russians and turkish greeks when it comes to our climate.

Hope this helps
-Chris

So this sounds like a vote for a marginated tortoise. Cool. They do seem like a great tortoise, I just haven't been able to find too much information about them on the web.

Will marginateds do okay with a primarily indoor lifestyle too though? As I said, I may end up in an apartment for an undetermined amount of time in a few years, and that would mean that the torts won't get as much time outdoors as they should (which is depressing).

I have also heard different opinions on the size of marginated tortoises. I have heard from some that they attain average sizes of around 9-10", but then others claim up to 14-15", though it seems most say about 12". Would it be safe to say that they will grow to be around 12" then? I know they are individuals though, and there is going to be quite a bit of variation in sizes depending on the specific specimen. For instance, 2 of my 3 russians are females. One is what I would consider small at roughly 5.75-6" (though I'm hoping that under my care, and with correct husbandry she will start to grow...she had a very poor diet before I rescued her). The other one is what I would consider very large for a russian, at about 9". I am unsure of the ages of either of them, so I think it's going to be interesting to trace their growth over the next 10 years and see what happens. My hypothesis right now is that the big girl won't get much larger (as I estimate her age at atleast 10 years), and the little girl will grow a little, but slow down and stop somewhere around 6.5". Of course, I would love it if they both continued to grow. I might end up with a world record for russians if that were the case

Tortoises are individuals therefore there are exceptions to every rule whether it's differentiating sexes, recognizing subspecies, determining adult size or even providing proper diet. It all varies. Some Marginateds do get huge. My largest male is just under 12" right now and he's been in the country for 7 years, who knows how old he was before that because he came in as an adult.

Keeping a large tortoise indoors does have it's disadvantages but as long as you provide the animal with all that it needs, you should be fine. Taking it outside occasionally to graze and bask should always be considered. Housing any animal in an apartment will be difficult but if you truly dedicate time and effort to it, I'm sure the experience will be rewarding.

-Chris

I think all tortoises no matter the size should be housed outdoors, even though a lot of people keep them indoors. Look into a russian tortoise they stay farily small, and would be fairly easy to care for indoors, Just plan to spend more money to keep it healthy, and plan on building big, like 8x5 foot tortoise table. Thats for russians, greeks, and hermanns, they get like 4-8 inches.

Also i thought New york has new laws against turtle and tortoises? Im not sure but i thought they did.

and they are fantastic little captives. As I said in an earlier post, one of my females is very large, and with any luck, she may end up being a record breaker someday. Right now she is 9", and about 3 pounds, but since I bought her (about a month ago), she has been putting on consistent weight at a rate of about 1/8 pound per week. My other female that I aquired a few monthes ago has also been putting on weight like crazy. She's only about 5.75", but in two weeks she went from .9 pounds to about 1.3 or 1.4. My little male I have been raising from a 1.5" hatchling. He's just around 3.5" right now, and his weight seems to stay steadily at around .5 pounds, but I think that's mostly because he's been in my care for a while and therefore has more steady growth and weight-gain than the newer girls.

Whenever possible I plan on having my tortoises outdoors, but I always plan for the worst and hope for the best. The worst being that I'll still be making $280-300 a week when I get out of college and being unable to afford anything other than an apartment. that's why, in looking for another species of tortoise to work with in the future, I asked which would do well indoors. Not because I want to keep them indoors, but because I might have to for an undetermined amount of time.

Thanks for the help. The russians are great tortoises, and I love taking them outdoors to basking and eat. I try to get them outside everyday, though there is often restraints (weather can sometimes suck quite badly here).

I think from what I have researched, right now it is best to wait it out and see what happens. The russians I have now are great tortoises, and one is becoming a pretty large tortoise, and I know that I will be able to accomodate them. I think the responsible thing for me to do is wait and see what happens after college. If anything, I would probably get a marginated, or possibly a redfoot. I would love to raise a leopard tortoise, but I'm just not sure if I'll realistically have the space (and money) to accomodate one.

Have you looked at star torts? I have one- named Ringo and I adore him!! I also have a Leopard and a Red foot also. Stars dont get as large as the latter, and Ringo is georgeous! They tend to be more shy, bit have the cutest knees!!!

I've only looked into them a little, but they seem like amazing little tortoises. Maybe I'll have to do more research on them.

They are on the most part shy tortoises, very scared and love to stay in their shell when there owner is around. they look good but lack personality, but depends on what you want. If you own a red footed tortoise you would find a star very very shy.

I own a few my self love them for there looks, but compared to my other tortoise they are pretty much shy and quite.

Ryan,

I live in the Hudson Valley and have had a Sulcata and a Leopard for 7 years. The Sulcata is a problem that keeps growing as it gets bigger, but my Leopard a dream.

I've never had a Hermann's, Marginated or Red-Foot so the only advice I can give is on a Leopard that I think should work for you.

Good luck