Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I am new to the world of tortises. I have owned box turtles, and other turles, but never tortises. I was looking at i think they are called Spur-Thigh Tortises and was going to buy it but decided to do some research first, and make sure I would be able to care for it. I was wondering around how big they get? What size cage they would need if they were around 4-5inches. I know they need UVB Lighting.How hot should the hot side be in there cage/enclousure?Do they basically eat fruits/veggies, and diffrent worms as there main diet like box turtles? Do i need to but calcium/vitamins in there food? I am sorry for all the questions, but it looked so cute, and i wanted it, so I thought about doing research first, and make sure i could handle the respnsiblity.

Thanks a lot,
NIck

Hi, the Spur-Thigh is generally called a "sulcata", you can scroll
down and see lots of pictures of them, mine - Teddy - has lots
of pics on this forum. This is a very cute baby but very destructive
larger animal that should be kept outdoors. Mine started as a
hatchling in a 300 gallon enclosure and now has a 1000 gallon indoor
enclosure for sleeping. You could start them in something smaller
and raise it like a small tortoise, but eventually it just can't
be kept like a box turtle anymore and many people start looking for
an adoptive home even when they're just beginning to grow larger.
I couldn't tell if you are an adult man, or a teen - my son can't
even lift the tortoise anymore and my tortoise is only 3 years old.
Plan to spend some bucks for food too, approx $20 a week is not
unreasonable. Ideally they should be grazing outdoors only but
this is hard in most parts of the country, and plus it's difficult
to fence $$$ securely an area that will actually feed them and
not get turned into a moonscape soon. Some of them grow more
slowly but eventually they WILL grow and it's unethical to attempt
to stunt them with minimal food - plus it won't work. Whatever
your decision, please think about it, don't join the crowd on
a very popular but newest "throw-away" pet when it becomes as
difficult as it will be to keep. And whatever you do, for God's
sake don't get two, you'll probably have two males who will attempt
to kill each other eventually. Mine's a baby doll lap tortoise
albeit 44 pounds already, but if he thinks he sees a threat to
his male tortoise ego, he turns into a rampaging beast. niki

Please verify whether you are looking at the spur thigh tortoise also known as the Greek tortoise, or the much larger African spurred tortoise or Sulcatta.

Its a Sulcatta Tortise ! How big should the enclousure be for a 3-4" Sulcatta Tortise? I already have plans for an outdoor enclousure for when it gets bigger, but what size do they need right now? What type of food do they eat, and how much ?

Thanks,
Nick

OK, they eat some types of grass and weeds, absolutely no
bugs/worms/meat like box turtles. Also can be fed endive,
escarole, watercress, green peppers, zuchinni squash, yellow
squash, collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens,
dandelion greens. A good commercial food is Mazuri (Purina).
It's the middle of June, this animal needs to be outdoors for
optimal health. They don't need to "be bigger" before going
outdoors. For a sulcata that size, start with a 4' X 2' indoor enclosure
and go from there. Don't even think in terms of "gallons" as
in a glass fish tank, if you are going to insist on keeping it indoors,
which is a poor choice.