A relic from another era: keeping a tortoise as a pet

By Aliki Nassoufis Jun 3, 2010, 7:17 GMT

Frankfurt - Turtles are a breed of animal from a long lost age. But if you are considering getting one as a pet you must be aware they place great demands on their owner. A tortoise requires an appropriate outdoor cage and a shelter for the winter months. Turtles can also grow to be very old - a few have even lived longer than their owner.

There are three types of tortoise that are often kept as pets: the Greek tortoise, the Moorish tortoise and the Marginated tortoise. According to Hans-Peter Buchert of the German Society for Herpetology all three are mid-sized turtles: the shell of a Greek tortoise can reach up to 23 centimetres in length, the Moorish 25 and the Marginated tortoise up to 35 centimetres.

Julian Heiermann from Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union says they also come from similar habitats in nature: 'They are usually found in barren and dry areas and partly in mountainous regions.' A turtle owner needs to take that into account. 'Turtles must be kept in the open air because they are not suitable for enclosed spaces,' says Buchert.

Tortoises need an outdoor living space that will secure them from attack by other animals. Bucher says that a group of three or four turtles require between 20 and 25 square metres of space. Turtles are not social creatures but they can live in small groups consisting of one or two males and four or five females. However, it must be possible to separate the males from the females.

Turtles are cold-blooded animals. 'Their body temperature is independent from the temperature of their environment and that explains why they must warm themselves in the sunshine every morning,' says Heiermann.

Buchert says the same principle applies to turtles in the home: 'A tortoise should only be placed outside when the sun shines.' Because that's not often the case in northerly countries, a turtle cage needs a shelter equipped with a heater.

If you don't supply the animal with heat it may fall ill. 'Most illnesses that turtles suffer from are caused by inappropriate keeping,' says Astrid Behr from Germany's vet association. If you don't have a protective house for your pet you must have a large terrarium that can reach a temperature of between 25 and 32 degrees Celsius.

A turtle requires two handfuls of food a day. 'They can be fed hay or plants such as dandelion, ribwort and clover,' says Buchert. They must also have constant access to water and a source of calcium. If they don't get enough raw fibre to eat such as hay, the tortoise's beak may not become worn enough. As a result it may not be able to eat properly and in the worst case could die of starvation.