May 12
3
The Best Tortoise Names
There is no one who can tell you what the best tortoise names are. Naming your new pet tortoise is a very personal bonding experience for you and your tortoise. You can take as long as you like to name your tortoise, as well. Do not feel that you have to choose a name right away. Actually, many people wait and get to know their tortoises’ personality before they choose to name their tortoise. Some pet owners like to name their tortoises after special personality traits. For example, if your tortoise likes to eat slowly, then you might want to name it “Nibbles” or if your tortoise enjoys laying outside in the yard under the sun and being lazy, you may want to teasingly call him “Slugsworth”.
Another option for naming your tortoise is calling him after your favorite book author or character. It might seem silly to some for a tortoise to be named “Sherlock Holmes”, but to you it might make perfect sense, especially if your tortoise is particularly curious. Other options to consider are “Harry Potter” or “Ramona Quimby”. You can also name your tortoise after your favorite band or song. “Miles Davis” and “Jefferson Starship” are excellent sounding names.
Tortoises are very loving and kind creatures and they make excellent pets that will live a very long time. If you notice your tortoise has a particular trait that definitely distinguishes it from the rest, you can use that to your advantage in naming your pet.
You can choose a tortoise name and make it as simple or as complicated as you like. Perhaps getting out a baby book and looking over the names might be a better idea for you. Tortoises do live a long time, and some even outlive their owners and are passed down through the family. Having a tortoise with a normal human name is not a bad idea, if you think about it.
You could simply call your tortoise by its scientific name, however, those names are often hard to pronounce. In fact, scientists have a common name for tortoises that they use instead of always referring to the scientific name. The common name usually reflects some particular trait or location of the tortoise. The star tortoise, for example, looks like it has stars on it, whereas the gopher tortoise is well known for its burrowing activity. Whatever you decide, the best tortoise names are always the names their owners choose.
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Apr 12
18
Tortoise Habitat Considerations
If you are thinking of purchasing a pet tortoise, there are many tortoise habitat considerations you should look into beforehand. Small tortoises can often be kept in aquariums, however, no tortoise knows how to swim, so make sure you keep your tortoise in a land dwelling environment and not in water pond.
It’s also important to remember that there are many different types of tortoise habitats and you must be familiar with the specific needs of your species. You will need to know exactly how big your tortoise is expected to grow. A tortoise needs a habitat area about nine times its size. They love to roam and climb and explore, so giving your tortoise plenty of room is very important. It is suggested you make their habitat at least nine times the size of your fully grown tortoise.
If you prefer to keep your tortoise indoors, or if cold weather prevents it from being outdoors, make sure you give them the same amount of room they need to explore and that they have plenty of warmth and heat. A heating lamp is a good source of warmth, although natural sunlight is mandatory to turtles in order to be able to properly digest their food. Consider purchasing a heating lamp with UV rays.
Tortoise habitats can be built out of wood or plexi glass. Although, young tortoises will not be able to recognize plexi glass, or any other glass, as a barrier and will possibly injure themselves on the glass itself. Keep the glass covered in paper so your tortoise is not confused. If your tortoise is kept outside, keep the walls high enough to where he can’t climb out and make sure it has a proper roof and a lockable door. This is for your tortoise’s protection. If your tortoise gets loose at night it is susceptible to birds, dogs, cats, badgers and other predators.
Make sure to try and get your tortoise habitat to resemble the breed’s natural habitat as much as possible. If your tortoise is a desert breed, it will need plenty of sand and dry heat. If, however, your tortoise is found in the rain forested areas of South America, it will need plenty of vegetation and a damp living space. In this case, a patch of mud and a sprinkler come in handy. Keep these tortoise habitat considerations in mind before beginning to build your pet’s habitat.
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Apr 12
3
Making A Tortoise Table
There are a number of good reasons you should consider making a tortoise table instead of purchasing one. Tortoises are loveable, friendly pets to have and they will be a great companion for many years to come. However, they need a lot of room to roam. Tortoises, as a general rule, need about nine times the amount of space of their body length. In other words, if your tortoise is going to be six inches long, you need a habitat that is four and a half feet in diameter.
You can make a tortoise table out of many things, however, plywood is the easiest and least expensive material. Build a large enough box from the plywood to ensure your tortoise has plenty of space to move around in. Make sure the tortoise table has a bottom and that it is lined with a waterproof seal. Covering the bottom of your table with a large plastic bag will keep liquids or excrement from soaking into the wood and keep your pet’s home safe from bacterial growth and mold.
Also, read up on the natural habitat of your tortoise species. If your tortoise is a desert dweller, keep your habitat warm and dry. Use dry sand and pebbles to form a home as close to the tortoise’s natural habitat as possible. If your tortoise is naturally a forest dweller, make sure to keep plenty of live plants and woodchips in your tortoise habitat.
All tortoise habitats will require an area of shelter and a few mounds for climbing. Turtles love to climb. Put some rock mounds in the center of the habitat, or build your tortoise a set of stairs and a second level to climb into. Make sure as well that your tortoise has a heat lamp and plenty of warmth to keep healthy.
If you cannot build a tortoise habitat from plywood, then consider using an old bookshelf or dresser. By opening the shelves of the bookcase, you automatically have a box. By rearranging the shelves to have a cave-like opening, you can keep your tortoise happy by giving it a much needed private area for hiding.
Tortoises will not do as well with glass enclosures, because they will continuously try to go through the glass and can injure themselves. Make sure they have a nice wooden habitat when making a tortoise table and make sure the tortoise table is high enough that they don’t climb out of it and hurt themselves.
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Mar 12
11
About Tortoise Hibernation
There are many things you should know about tortoise hibernation if you are thinking of keeping a tortoise as a pet. Not all tortoises need to hibernate, however, there are some species in which hibernations is a requirement for their health and survival. Some hibernating tortoise species include the desert tortoise and the Russian tortoise. If your tortoise naturally lives close to the equator, it will probably not need to hibernate. However, the farther away its natural habitat is from the equator, the more likely it is to need to hibernate.
If you have a turtle that requires hibernation, make sure you are aware of its needs. Turtles often hibernate because their natural environment goes through periods of cold or drought. The turtles will burrow themselves underground for months at a time and wait for the conditions to be right to emerge again.
There is some speculations about tortoises hibernating in captivity. If you are keeping your tortoise as a pet and you choose to allow it to hibernate, keep a few things in mind. First, a tortoise should never hibernate outside in extreme weather conditions. If it is cold and snowy, or there are floods and damaging waters, then bring your pet inside. It’s better to wake your tortoise than to have it freeze to death.
Also, don’t let your tortoise hibernate if it is sick or injured. The lack of nutrition and lack of sunlight will only make your tortoise worse and could possibly kill it. This is also a good time to keep your tortoise indoors and awake so that you can properly care for it. Many people choose not to let baby tortoises hibernate, either. Infants are much more susceptible to illness and disease as well as more prone to the elements than older tortoises. Keep the baby tortoises inside until they are at least two years of age.
If you do keep your tortoise inside, make sure your tortoise has plenty of heat and warmth. Keep a heating lamp and dry soil available to your tortoise during cold winter months. Also, make sure your tortoise is well fed and bathed daily in warm water to keep it active and healthy since it is not in hibernation. If you do let your tortoise hibernate outside, keep a close eye on the weather and the health of your tortoise. You can check on it by waking it gently and then coaxing it back to sleep. It is important to learn about tortoise hibernation before purchasing a tortoise as a pet.
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Feb 12
23
Picking Out Tortoise Names
tortoise names are an important part of owning a tortoise, and can also be a lot of fun. Because of the extensive life span of tortoises, it is important to be sure you give your new pet a good name that you will continue to enjoy throughout the tortoise’s life.
Every member of the family should be a part of finding a name for your new tortoise, even children. Although young children may not be able to come up with exceptional names, they should still be a part of the process. This way, you keep them engaged with the pet from the beginning, and they will feel a responsibility toward her. That responsibility they feel will create an eagerness to care for the tortoise, which will make your job easier. Sometimes, older children will actually come up with great names, so be sure to let them get creative.
Take your time when naming your tortoise. As you get to know your pet and watch her behavior, you can begin to see different personality quirks or certain behaviors develop. These are a great start to finding the perfect name for your tortoise. You can even compile a short list of traits that you observe in your tortoise which can help you know what to begin to look for when looking for names.
Another way to find a good name is to base that name on the species of your tortoise. Naming a Star Tortoise “Starry” isn’t particularly creative, but finding the name of a constellation or star may work out perfectly for you. “Cassiopia” and “Andromeda” are two examples of constellation names that are unique enough to stand out, but common enough that they are recognizable. The names of individual stars can work for this as well.
Once you’ve found some good characteristics to get you started, you can begin searching online for good tortoise names. There are several excellent baby name websites which contain 100,000’s of names with their meanings. Find one that has a meaning search, and start looking up your tortoise’s attributes. Searching for “friend” for a friendly tortoise will find you names such as “Mitra” and “Khalil.” It’s up to you if you use one of these, or end up finding a name that just flows nicely.
You can also find words that will also work well as names. By looking on translation websites, you can find great tortoise names by looking up the various personality traits that your tortoise has, or even by looking up the word “tortoise” in various languages.
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The first thing you need to know about tortoise hibernation is whether or not your tortoise will hibernate. Most of the tortoises from North America, Europe, and Asia will hibernate, and most from the tropical and sub-tropical areas will not hibernate. However, there are exceptions to this, so you need to be sure that you know whether or not your tortoise needs to hibernate.
Once you’ve figured out that your tortoise is one that does need to hibernate, you need to know when to allow or not allow your tortoise to go into hibernation. Because hibernation means that the tortoise’s body slows down and there is no food or water intake for several months, it is important to realize that allowing your tortoise to go into hibernation after a serious infection or illness could actually kill your tortoise. It is also not good for a tortoise to hibernate if they are less than two years old.
There are signs to look for when a tortoise is ready to go into hibernation. They begin to slow down, eat less, and hide more. This should happen in the fall, as the daylight hours are reduced and the temperature begins to drop. When you see that your tortoise is beginning to prepare for hibernation and he or she is healthy enough to do that, you need to be prepared to help your tortoise through this process.
The first thing you should do is prepare a box for your tortoise to hibernate in for the winter. The box only needs to be big enough and filled with enough bedding for the tortoise to bury him or herself in. You also need to have a place to put this box once your tortoise is fully ready to go into hibernation. It must be in a cool area where the temperature stays below 60 degrees (15.5 C) but above freezing.
Once you’ve got a place prepared, you need to prepare your tortoise for hibernation. Two weeks before putting your tortoise into hibernation, stop feeding him or her. This is important because any food left in the stomach will rot during hibernation, and could kill your tortoise, or cause some very serious health problems. You should continue to leave out fresh water, however. You can also begin to change the lighting for your tortoise so that there is more darkness than light.
When your tortoise is completely ready to go into hibernation, you may put them in the prepared box, and place the box where it will be safe. During tortoise hibernation, it is important to check on your tortoise to check for problems, but it is equally important not to disturb your tortoise so much that he or she wakes up from hibernation.
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Feb 12
13
Tortoise Table Benefits
If you are considering bringing a tortoise into your home, you need to understand the benefits to keeping your new pet in a tortoise table. In the wild, tortoises come from a wide variety of habitats, and having a tortoise table is the best way that you can mimic the natural habitat of your tortoise, which is a great start to owning a healthy and happy tortoise.
Many people keep tortoises in glass aquariums because they want to be able to easily view their tortoise. However, the right tortoise table will actually be easier for you to view your tortoise, and comes without all the harmful side-effects that your tortoise may experience when kept in a glass terrarium. Most tortoise tables are either completely open on top, or open completely on the top, making the entire space quickly and easily accessible for cleaning or handing your tortoise. Many of them also feature wire fencing materials on the sides, which makes viewing from the sides easy as well.
Most tortoises have three problems when being kept in glass terrariums. First of all, they repeatedly bump into the glass, which can make them nervous about moving about, and can sometimes cause injury. Secondly, they can get sick or develop breathing problems if too much moisture builds up, which can happen easily in the enclosed glass terrarium. And lastly, many tortoises greatly enjoy burrowing, and glass terrariums are just not deep enough for them to do that. Tortoise tables are built to be deep enough for burrowing, which makes your pet feel safer.
Tortoise tables are also great because they come in a wide variety of sizes and styles, so you can find one that fits you and your tortoise. Some types of tortoise can get rather large, so they need the space that a big tortoise table can provide for them. If you are a do-it-yourself type of person, you can easily construct a tortoise table yourself, as there are many websites that contain directions. That also makes a tortoise table very affordable.
When deciding on the type of tortoise table you need for your tortoise, there are only a couple of things you need to consider. The first thing is the size of your tortoise and how much space they are going to need when they reach maturity. You don’t want to get a small table for your small hatchling tortoise only for her to outgrow it in a couple of years. You also need to consider the environment your tortoise came from, which is the environment you will be doing your best to recreate in your tortoise table.
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Feb 12
11
Understanding Tortoise Habitat
The place where the tortoises live is known as the tortoise habitat. Almost all the tortoises adjust to their natural settings of existence. However, many wild species need specific environment to survive. Such species are more prone to extinction and a lot of them are already extinct. Loss of appropriate habitat is the main reason that is responsible for the decline of tortoises. Tortoises are very sensitive to toxicants and pollutants and disappear with the degrading quality of water. Some of the habitats of tortoises are described below.
Desert Tortoise Habitat:
Desert tortoises live in different habitats that range from plains to rocky foothills. They are generally seen in alluvial fans, canyons and washes where the soil is apt for the construction of a den. They can live at sea level as well as at altitudes as high as 3500 ft. These creatures know the location of the tortoise food along with water and other sources of minerals.
African Spurred Tortoise Habitat:
This species is found in the central and northern regions of Africa. Their habitat runs from Sahara desert to Ethiopia. These places experience very less or no rainfall making these tortoises excellent borrowers.
Russian Tortoise Habitat:
These tortoises are found in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and some parts of Iran. The climate varies to a large extent and is very harsh. The summers are extremely hot and winters cold. As an adaptation with the natural environment, Russian tortoises remain burrowed most of the time. They come out only during the spring season for feeding and breeding themselves.
Leopard Tortoise habitat:
The habitat of this tortoise is the continent of Africa. These are generally found in the regions with dry climates. They are found in those areas that have lots of grass for them to eat.
Red Eared Slider Tortoise Habitat:
The habitat of Red Eared Slider includes a large range. They are typically found in US, some parts of Indiana, Alabama and Georgia. The habitat is very diverse in terms of size, location and content. From a few mud holes in grassy drainage ditch, to barren ponds, lakes, streams and rivers, the range is very vast. These beings prefer to be in quiet waters with rich aquatic vegetation.
The habitat sites of tortoises need to be maintained and monitored carefully. tortoise habitat is very essential as this place provides for the successful thriving of tortoises in nature.
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Your tortoise habitat is a very important factor in deciding how healthy and happy your tortoise is. With tortoises, it’s not one-habitat-fits-all. Rather, the habitats in which tortoises live are as diverse as the tortoise species themselves. For this reason, it is important that you do extensive research on the type of habitat your tortoise comes from in order to give them the healthiest life possible. Most likely, you will not be able to replicate your tortoise’s original habitat exactly, but don’t worry too much about it. Tortoises are able to adapt to their environment.
The Desert Tortoise lives in a variety of places, from rocky hills to plains. They are burrowing tortoises which means they seek out soil where they can easily dig burrows. In the wild, they have ready access to food, water, and mineral sources. In captivity, this means that you should provide a habitat with a fine material as bedding so they can burrow as they see fit. You should also be sure that they have regular access to food, plenty of minerals, and water.
The African Spurred Tortoise is found throughout the northern and central parts of Africa. They are also burrowers, and because of the lack of rainfall in their region, they are strong burrowers. They have less access to both food and water. Therefore, if you have an African Spurred Tortoise, you can provide a tougher substrate, and will need to feed them less often. However, fresh water should always be made available to your pet.
The Russian tortoise lives in a climate that is extremely hot and dry in the summer and extremely cold in the winter. For this reason, the Russian Tortoise stays in hibernation for large parts of both the summer and the winter. They are most active in the spring, when they come out to feed and breed. When you have a Russian Tortoise, you do not have to allow them to go into hibernation both parts of the year, but it is very important to allow them to have extended times of hibernation at least once a year.
The Leopard Tortoise is another type of tortoise found in Africa. They also live in very dry climates, but in areas where there is a lot of grass. Because their natural diet is made up of a lot of grass, it is important to mimic this in captivity and give them plenty of access to fresh greens. If possible, you can allow them in your yard to graze on their own, which will make them feel like they are in their own tortoise habitat.
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Jan 12
16
Information On Tortoise Hibernation
There is a lot to know about tortoise hibernation, as it is an important part of a tortoise’s life. It allows them to sleep through the colder months, preventing death from a lack of food and the cold itself. Most tortoises from cooler climates across North America, Europe, and Asia will hibernate in the winter, and not allowing them to do so can cause them stress and illness.
Before you allow your tortoise to hibernate, you must be sure that they will be able to safely make it through hibernation. Although it is important that they do hibernate, there are times when it is not safe for your tortoise to do so. If your pet has recently been ill or has an infection, or is under two years of age, she should be kept from hibernating. You can ask your reptile veterinarian if you are still not sure.
Once the days start getting shorter, your tortoise will begin to prepare for hibernation. When you see her slowing down, eating less, and hiding more frequently, you can begin to help her get ready for hibernation. Stop feeding your tortoise two weeks before you are going to put her to bed for the winter. This is important as any food left in the gut during hibernation can rot, which will lead to illness. Continue to offer water and give her baths in lukewarm water. You can also reduce the amount of light your tortoise is getting to help slow her down even more.
When your tortoise is ready to hibernate, prepare a small box that contains bedding of either shredded bark or potting soil. The box only needs to be big enough for her to move around in a bit, but deep enough for her to bury herself. Where you place the box is important. It must be in a quiet area of the house where the temperature won’t fluctuate much. The temperature needs to stay between freezing and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius).
A tortoise waking up from hibernation will also need some special care to get her back to normal. Thoroughly check your tortoise for any signs of illness of infection, and if you see anything that alarms you, contact your veterinarian. The first step is to get her hydrated. To do so, be sure she constantly has fresh drinking water available, and soak her in lukewarm water for about an hour every day for several days. Reptile vitamin liquid should be added to this water to give her an extra boost. Once she is hydrated, you can begin to offer food. Offer her favorite foods as well as yellow or red flowers as to spark her appetite, and her tortoise hibernation cycle will be finished.
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