Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I've long been into snakes and lizards, but my recent fascination with tortoises has me hitting the books once again. I'll begin by explaining my situation, then ask for suggestions.

I've found that tortoises are grazers by nature, but living in Northern NJ, roughly 1/3 of the year will be too cold for the tortoise to live outdoors year round. I plan on purchasing a juvenile tort and get it established indoors initially. I'll most likely end up building a tortoise table measuring 4x2x1. However, my back yard is unique in that we have a decent sized area of garden space that rarely gets used. My plan is to convert this space into an outdoor tortoise habitat. Right now its just soil and rocks, but with some work, I can set it up accordingly. This area measures maybe 15' by 9'.

Now I'm leaving for college in a few months. I'll be roughly 45min away, so I'll be home on the weekends and during breaks and stuff. I've talked this over with my parents and they agreed to care for my animals while I'm gone. Since I don't plan on keeping the turtle outdoors year round, I want a species that will not get incredibly large, fast. Also, the easier to care for the better. Also in that respect, I want an attractive species. Given that, what are my options?

I'd stay away from sulcatas and leopards if you want something that doesn't get huge. I think any of the mediterranean torts would do well (herman's, greek, marginated, russian). Or, depending on how much you want to spend, a star tortoise might be a good choice. They're definitely attractive, and although they get larger than the med. torts, they don't get huge.

I'm no expert. These are just some options I considered myself when I was trying to decide on a species.

First, in all honestly your torts will need to be inside most of the year. I have lived on Long Island and now in CT and outside days is only from May to Early Oct. Outside nights may only be July and August.

Any chance you could take it to college. I had a redfoot when I was in college and he had a nice tort table under my bed.(The bed was raised up on risers) Need to check with the college because its hard to hide a 3 by 6 foot tort table.

If you can't take him/her then your parents have to realize that they are getting a tort and you are visiting on weekends.
Tom

Well I never planned on leaving the tortoise outdoors all night. The numbers of skunks, racoons, and possums are daunting. I'm going to bring it in every night.

Good idea. I have a top on my enclosure so its pretty much varmit proof. Of course never leave food out in the pen even when they are not in it because the critters get to know where food can be found. I have a large open top pen for days when I am out in the yard and a smaller covered pen if overnight or not watching them. The redfoots tend to like to stay out overnight, under hosta plants and tolerate dips in temps at night and dampness quite well. Leopards have never spent a night outside.
Tom

I've always considered Red and Yellow foots to be the go to Tortoises, but check into the Testudo complex and Manouria. It all depends on what your looking for. You probably want color, but size is going to come into play and that is going to limit your choices. I'd look at Burmese Browns ( Manouria ), they are readily available medium sized Torts that don't really have alot of color, but have awesome personalities. Whatever you go with, you really can't go worng

Since you live in Jersey, I would say the best species to get is a Greek, Hermanns, or Marginated. These guys tend to tolerate the humidity fairly well (as Jersey does get the comparatively frequent rainstorm). Most desert species require enormous levels of sunlight and it is very difficult to keep them in a more northerly environment. Don't get a wild-caught animal, as these almost invariably die, especially if this is your first tortoise (this rules out Russians, for the most part; they also tend to suffer from shell-rot if exposed to high humidity). Most tropical species get far too large to keep in more northerly areas, though if you are dedicated, you can succeed (a friend of mine in New York keeps Burmese Mountains in a greenhouse w/ summertime access to a small weedy patch behind his apartment complex). Rule one with tortoises is that they should be kept outside whenever possible.

T.G.