Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm most likely going to be buying a baby tortoise in the next month or two, and have already done a good bit of research on the tendancies of different breeds. One of the things I'm not positive about is the size that different breeds grow to. I'm looking for something not quite as big as sulcattas get, but probably not as small as Russian ones get, either. Leaning towards the bigger tortoises, but again, not sulcatta sized. The reason being is that I rent a loft apartment currently and don't plan on buying a house for a while, and moving an overly large tortoise, not to mention living with one, would be a nightmare. I'm most considering getting a yellow-footed tortoise since I read that they grow to 16-20 inches in length, and that seems like a pretty decent size. From what I've read, breeds can be ranked in the following order from largest to smallest: Galapagos, Adabra, Sulcatta, Burmese (all 24 inches), Yellow-footed(16-20 inches), Leopard (14-18 inches), Red-footed (10-16 inches), Russian, Hermanns (both 8-12 inches). Is this accurate? Are there any other relatively common breeds I could find that are missing from my list? Also, this might sound like a weird request, but I would appreciate anyone posting pictures of adult tortoises that have good representations of their sizes, ie. pictures with comparable objects or people in them to scale by. Thanks!

Sorry, for my length of Galapagos, Aldabra, Burmese, and Sulcattas, the size in parentheses should say 24 (plus sign) inches. I don't think I accidently deleted the plus sign, but if there's something in this forum that edits them out or something...

yep sounds about right. One thing you might want to consider is how much room they will have to move around. Yellowfoots need quite a bit of space and like to roam. Even Russians need quite a bit of space and those babies grow fairly quickly.
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TurtsandTorts Discussion Group
2 Russians (Harley and Marley)
2 RES (Sunny and Fatty)
2 Gerbils (Sydney and Vienna)
1 Cat (Abby)

The tortoise will be an inside tortoise since I live in a second floor loft apartment, but, it is a LOFT; about 750sq feet total with 12.5 foot ceilings a big indoor balcony too. I don't think I'll mind having a tortoise roaming around the apartment, though; there's lots of open space as is and I even plan on making an inside garden for it. I'll house it in an unused 20 or 30 gallon fish tank until it outgrows that, then introduce slowly introduce it to the rest of the place. The only issue will be my two currently 12 month old kittens; I'll be SURE and get them as friendly as possible with the tortoise as soon as they'll start having contact with him.

That and pooping. Anyone had experience with housebreaking tortoises?

I do not know anything about house breaking tortoises, but the picture shows what many Japanese do. I personally would not do that, if only to save my tortoise's self-respect.

Yes, a tortoise diaper!

Michael

Hi i dont think it would be best to buy a tortoise if you cant provide a outdoor place. The room is not the only problem. They will need UVB lighting like the sun and they will need hot laces for basking. Also they will need a place to sleep and burrow into. I would not get a red foot or yellow foot. I you live in a 2nd story aprtment it would be wise to ethier get a smaller tortoise which will still need outdoor place but at least it wount be huge and can stay indoors more or just dont get a tortoise until you have a house and a yard to keep them in. A 20 inch tort. will need at least a 10x10 enclosrue but bigger is better. Tortoises are not puppies and wont do good indoors all year around. Hope you can realize that.

The thought had come to mind about the tortoise not being able to live outside. I've asked on a different board (admittedly not a tortoise-specific board, but one with knowledgable tortoise owners who gave me their advice) about the merit of getting a tortoise at all given my situation, and hadn't had anyone say outright not to get a tortoise just because I live in an apartment unless it was sulcata-sized. About the tortoise having its own personal space, I'm prepared to let it live on a part of the balcony in my apartment that's 12x8.5 feet (it's about 3-6 feet from the slanted ceiling, thus the reason it's not being used for anything else now) and provide extensive UV heating lights and temperature control, as well as let it roam around the rest of my big apartment. I'm going to a reptile show tomorrow and I'll hopefully be able to ask a specialist these questions, but please, if anyone else has input as to whether not getting a tortoise at all is a good idea, post it. I kind of intended on asking that question in the first place, thus the excessive information given in my posts. I'll just start a new thread asking exactly that maybe, if there isn't much response.

Well a redfoot or yellow foot needs quite a bit of room. If you really want a tortoise i dont recomend a big one or medium size one. I still think tortoises should not have the house to roam. They need outdoors. I know people who keep russians indoors but is still think they need outdoors. A red foot will need a lot of room to roam and it needs to be humid for them. Humidity needs to be € so you will need to make your house humid which will be kind of hard. Also they will use the bathroom in your house they have no control over there bladders. I think if you got a russian or hermanns they will will do good on your pattio. That would be good for a adult russian or Hermanns. But a yellow foot that will get to 20in. will need a backyard to live in.

I live in an area where my torts cannot be outside for the majority of the year. If set up properly and allowed outside at least some of the time they can be kept indoors. Make sure you have UV lighting, appropriate heated areas and provide humid hides. I also grow food indoors during the winter months. Even though you live in an apartment you can still take your tortoise outside with you and sit in the sun for a little bit when its warm enough. I also allow mine to roam around safe rooms, supervised for about a half an hour to an hour each day when they need to be indoors.

I went to a reptile show today (the one in Havre de Grace, MD) and talked to all the breeders there selling tortoises, and they all agreed that a medium-sized tortoise, like a yellow-foot, can do well if kept indoors for most of its life and let to sit outside on a patio (or in my case, probably fire escape) for an hour a day or so during the summer months, provided that it's given good lighting and heat indoors. A few of the breeders there also convinced me that yellow foots aren't a good idea to start out with, as they are hard to satisfy and aren't very active or social, prefering spend most of their lives in a shelter or corner. They recommended red foots as a good starter tortoise, and leopards as a second or third (to Hermanns), so I've decided to try for a leopard tortoise, as I like their shell coloration and shape more. One breeder said that leopards grow very slowly, so it will even be a while before I have to move it out of a smaller enclosure.

I really don't have trouble keeping my apartment humid as it is; it isn't terribly effected by outside conditions, having only one (brick) wall to the outside and tight windows. I keep it at 60% humidity pretty easily with a single humidifier now, and probably wouldn't have much trouble raising it to 70%.

If you go with leopards you do not need the humidity. They are primarily desert dwellers. I have both redfoots and leopards in seperate enclosures inside in the winter and the leopards just like the basking light and the warmth 85 but do not need the extra humidity. The redfoots need the humidity that you are talking about. Tom

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