How to prepare for the purchase of a land tortoise?

Where to start dating?

As before purchasing any other pet, be sure to study professional literature, as well as various thematic forums about the life of a turtle in its natural habitat and at home. This will help you better understand the needs of your pet, weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision: are you sure you are ready for such a responsibility.

Be sure to talk to the turtle breeder of your variety to discuss key care issues.

What stages does the future owner of a turtle need to go through?

• To study the lifestyle of land turtles in the wild and at home

• Explore articles and forums on setting up a terrarium for a tortoise

• Study the diet of a turtle of a selected variety

• Think about what you read and answer yourself the question: “Am I ready for this?”

• Prepare the terrarium

• Find a breeder and choose a baby

• Discuss turtle care with the breeder, purchase pet food on his recommendation

• Take the baby home

• Keep in touch with the breeder in order to seek expert help if necessary. This is especially important when you first get a turtle.

Where can there be contradictions?

• Do turtles hibernate or not?

Land tortoises do not hibernate. This is due to the fact that in their natural habitat, babies live in a warm climate where a relatively constant temperature is maintained.

If you create a proper temperature climate for your pet, then you will not have to observe long sleep.

• Vegetarians or not?

Land tortoises in the wild are quite active and are able to travel considerable distances in order to obtain a wide variety of food for themselves. Your task will be to make a varied fortified diet for the baby. Be sure to discuss it with the breeder.

All land turtles are “vegetarians”. Their diet is 95% plant based and 5% animal based.

80% of the diet is fresh greens: flowers, cabbage, herbs and leaves, suitable for the variety of your pet. 10% are vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, cucumbers. 5% are light fruits: apples and pears. And another 5% animal food: fodder insects, snails, etc.

As an addition to the basic diet, it is useful for herbivorous turtles to give champignons and other easily digestible mushrooms, bran, raw sunflower seeds, and special dry food for turtles. But any changes in the diet must be agreed with the veterinarian or breeder. It is better to be safe than to treat your pet for digestive problems later.

Different types of turtles are suitable for different foods. If you want to diversify your pet’s diet, carefully review what foods are good for her, and which foods are not recommended to be included in the diet.

• Do you need calcium and vitamin D?

Even if you have ideally equipped the terrarium and purchased the best lamps, the turtle still needs calcium and vitamin D. They are the key to a strong and healthy shell.

Find out from a veterinarian or breeder where and which vitamin complex is better to buy.

• Do tortoises need water?

The question of liquid intake for turtles is not as acute as for dogs and cats. In nature, turtles get the amount of water they need from plants, raindrops, or ponds. At home, it is enough to organize daily bathing or install a bath in a terrarium. The turtle will drink as much water as it needs.

• Good or bad breeder?

On various forums and sites you can find a huge number of offers for the sale of land turtles. Some breeders set a low price and are ready to give their pets to any hands, while others “break the cost”, and even require a photo of the finished terrarium.

Our advice to you: choose the second one.

Such a breeder will always be in touch. He can help you with the acquisition of the necessary equipment, compiling a diet, and will provide all kinds of support.

What does a land tortoise need?

• Before bringing home a turtle, be sure to prepare a place where it will live.

• Choose a quiet area of ​​​​the apartment for installation of the terrarium, where direct sunlight does not fall. Do not place the terrarium next to a radiator or a window.

• To make the pet feel comfortable, calculate the size of the container.

• A terrarium with a size of approximately 15x50x30 cm is suitable for a turtle up to 40 cm in size. And two such turtles will be comfortable in a territory of 100x60x60 cm.

• The shape of the container can be rectangular, square or in the form of a trapezoid. The main thing is that it fits the size of your pet!

• Prepare the ground. Specialized compositions (coco peat, for example) and sawdust are suitable, in which the baby can dig in for sleep. Only sawdust is best taken at a pet store: already cleaned of fine wood dust, which is dangerous for the animal’s respiratory tract.

• Put a house in the terrarium, but not in the part where the light from the heating lamp falls.

• So the turtle will be able to choose between a cool house or a warm corner.

• Choose a place where the baby can eat. It is desirable that this be a place located near the house and the place of heating.

• For heating, you can use both various light bulbs and special heating cords, rugs, etc. However, in practice, it is most convenient for turtles to use heating lamps as heating. Ideally, infrared, which can also heat the pet at night without disturbing his sleep.

• For irradiation, it is also necessary to install a lamp with a UV lamp with a power of at least 10.0 or 15.0 UVB. Without UV, your turtle will not be able to synthesize vitamin D3 properly, which will make your pet sick.
• Be sure to get a thermometer. It will help to control the temperature in the range from 25°C to 35°C.

• The corner under the incandescent lamp can warm up to 35 ° C, and the place of the least heating (next to the house) – up to 25 ° C.

• Install a bath. It can be located in the place of greatest heating or next to it. Yes, and the presence of the bath itself will help the turtle swim and drink water at will.

At first, we recommend using ready-made kits, which include bedding, lamps, a house, and even decorations. Not without reason, the arrangement of terrariums for land turtles can be attributed to art.

You can buy everything together and separately in specialized stores or from the breeders themselves.

To make your future pet feel comfortable in a new place, be sure to take care of its arrangement long before acquiring the tenant itself.

Even at the very stage of arranging a terrarium for a land tortoise, you can finally understand whether you are ready to purchase it or whether it is worth waiting for now.