Hello, I have been considering adding a Tortoise to my animal family for some time now. I have a 5 foot by 3 foot enclosure right now. I could build a new one if this would not be big enough. The largest I could go would be 7 foot by 4 foot for the new one due to space limitations in my Reptile Room. This would rule out the larger breeds who need more room than that. I would need a type of Tortoise that would be ok living most of it's life indoors because I live just outside of Buffalo NY and would not be able to take it outside from mid fall until late spring. Really only June, July, and August would be good for him to go out. Maybe into September on a good year. So for all intents and purposes, he would be indoors a huge majority of his life. I read that Russians can only be kept in outdoor pens, is this correct? That was one of the breeds I was considering until I read that. I am also considering Greeks, and someone told me there is a type of box turtle that might do good in my setup. I understand that Tortoises need UV light, a varied diet of Greens, and proper heat/humidity. I believe I could provide all of those things. I am curious about the water situation. I read that some should not have water in the enclosure but need to be soaked regularly. How often is "regularly"? I think I would be stressed having an animal with no available drinking water, is it OK to have a water bowl in the enclosure? What are the types of Tortoises I could consider that would be ok in a 5x3 indoor enclosure, with future max of 7x4? Would a Greek be ok in this setup? It would be heated from below with a Pig Blanket and from above with basking lights. A Pig Blanket is a rubber like mat that can safely be put inside of enclosures. They offer a nice amount of heat, not hot enough to cause burns. Can be placed on top of or below substrate. The enclosure I have has a linolium floor so I cannot use an UTH on it for belly heat. What are some of your favorite Tortoise Substrates? One last question, do you feed your Tortoises once a day or twice a day? I would appreciate any thoughts or comments you have on what I could consider. Thanks so much, and sorry this post is so long! I'll end with a picture of some Snapping Turtle Eggs we tried to rescue today, they were in a pile of mulch that was being spread over a trail at a local Nature Preserve. We transferred them to a safe place, then covered them back up. Hope they will be ok. Some were dented when we came across them, don't know if that's a bad sign or not. There were over 30 all together, here are some of them...
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Lyns Lair
Frogwatch USA
WNY Herpetological Society
0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose Snake (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow / Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Banded Water Snake (Ripley) coming soon!
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.6 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Nala, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)
