Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have already started keeping my redfoots outdoors on the warm days and bringing them in at night. As it gets warmer, they'll be outside all the time.

Has anyone ever had problems with raccoons or skunks attacking their tortoises? I've found wood turtles in the past with their front legs gnawed off and wondered if and how other people deal with this problem aside from totally enclosing the top of the outdoor pen.

Thanks

I get skunks and coons but they only seem to be on the prowl at night time here. So i take my turtles and torts in at night. The only real way to stop them is make it so that they cant get to your animals. Also if you keep your trash closed up your less likley to have them. Compost piles attract them too. Good luck!

An electrified fence around the pen usually does the trick for skunks, racoons, weseals, coatimundi,coyotes, foxes, dogs etc....but hawks and cats and ravens are another story

Predators are definitely a problem in many parts of the country. I know of everything from pet mud turtles that have been carried off and eaten by birds to 12 inch adult elongated tortoises being eaten by groups of raccoons.

There is an excellent article by Darrell Senneke of the World Chelonian Trust available in the hundreds upon hundreds of WCT pages on turtles and tortoises. It is entitled "A secure habitat" and can be found via the search engine on the front page of the site or via the following cut and paste link:

http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/secure.htm

It covers a wide variety of predators as well as solutions.

There are also a number of new tortoise articles available on the site. Just click on the link below or go to www.chelonia.org and look under "new articles" for pictures and info on sexing flat tailed tortoises, differentiating the Burmese mountain tortoise subspecies, as well as a number of care articles, both originals and translations, written and translated into Spanish.

Doc

World Chelonian Trust