Captive Care for your Baby Tortoises

  We will start with the basic baby tortoise care of Redfoot Tortoises.  Scientific name (Geochelone carbonaria).  This is one of the best species to keep in captivity.  Along with one of the prettiest.  Redfoot Tortoises have great personalities and do great in humid conditions.  They are a tropical species coming from several countries in South America.  There are several different localities.  All localities of redfoot tortoises require the same care and needs.  We are currently working with Venezuelan and Guyana Redfoot Tortoises.  We have been working with and breeding this species for over 15 years.     

 All of our Redfoot Tortoises that we offer on our website are produced here by us on our farm in sunny south florida.  

  We will start with explaining the basic needs and care to set up baby Redfoot Tortoises.  As babies (2-3 inches) and juveniles (4-6 inches) redfoot tortoises can be setup in a 20 gallon long terrarium (babies) up to a 40 gallon breeder (juveniles).  We prefer to keep them on cypress mulch or coco fiber.  These substrates help with holding humidity.  It is important to keep your humidity between 60-75 %.  We recommend getting a spray bottle and spraying the substrate once or twice a week to create moisture in return this will create humidity.  It is important not to keep the enclosure too wet.  Find a happy medium that keeps the substrate moist yet still dry on one end.  You can monitor your humidity by purchasing a Zoo Med Tempature and Humidity gage.  They are very affordable and help you stay on top of the proper temps and humidity.     

  They also require a ceramic based basking light fixture.  This is used for heating up a hot spot in their tank.  Also referred to as a basking spot.  The hot spot should range between 85-90 degrees.  This helps them with food digestion.  The other side of their tank can be kept a little cooler so they can get out of the warmer air if needed.  Since these are a tropical species they generally don’t mind temps staying in the 78-80 range.   For your setup you should have a tank with a basking light and 10.0 UVB bulb for optimal conditions.  The UVB helps them produce Vitamin D3 which helps with calcium absorption and metabolizing which keeps their bones and shells hard and healthy. UVB is usually considered essential when keeping baby tortoises indoors.    

  For hides and decorations there are many to choose from.  You can use a simple Zoo Med Habba Hut for a hide.  It is made specifically for baby tortoises to hide in.  They feel more comfortable having a place they can go inside and hide.  For decorations there are many to choose from.  We like using real plants and dead tree leaves for leaf littler on top of the substrate.  

  Next we will discuss redfoot tortoises diet.  Redfoot tortoises are omnivores.  Meaning they eat both meats and plants.  We generally feed ours Mazuri Tortoise Chow.  We moisten it first and then add a little extra calcium with out D3  to each feeding.  We also mix it with greens, veggies and fruits.  This is a list of vegetables we recommend to use.  We use cut up romaine lettuce, spring mix, cut carrots, cut squash.  Fruits we like to feed are cut up papaya, bananas, different melons and mangos.  This is their staple diet for the week.  You can get away with just feeding the Mazuri Tortoise Chow if wanted but best to mix in some fruits and veggies to add with their diet.  

 Once every other week we offer protein.  Protein diets can come in many different meaty foods.  Sometimes you can offer chicken hearts or cut fish.  Sometimes a little boiled chicken meat.  We also use Mazuri Crocodile Diet for protein as well.  This is another pellet food that you can moisten and offer as a protein source without having to feed your tortoise meat.    

  For hydration we recommend a low sided bowl that they can easily access themselves.  We usually use a small hard plastic plant bowl or terracotta bowl.  Make sure when picking out a bowl to pick out one that the tortoise can easily access and exit on its own.  We also recommend soaking your baby tortoise twice a week.  This is easily done by taking him/her out of their enclosure and placing them in a temporary soaking bowl.  You only need to do this for 10-20 minutes at a time twice a week.  It’s best to soak in luke warm water.  This assures your baby tortoise is getting the adequate hydration it needs.  All in all redfoot tortoises are easy to care for and do very well in captivity.  These beautiful tortoises will make a great addition to anyone's display or house hold for a new family pet.

  We will start with the basic care of Eastern Hermann’s Tortoises.  Scientific name (Testudo hermanni boettgeri).  This is one of the best species to keep in captivity.  Along with one of the smaller species.  Eastern Hermann’s Tortoises have great personalities and do will in dry or humid conditions.  They are a quite adaptable species.  They are a Mediterranean species coming from several countries in Europe.  There are several different localities.  We are currently working with the Eastern Hermann’s Tortoise.  We have been working with and breeding this species for the past 6 years.     

 All of our Eastern Hermann’s Tortoises that we offer on our website are produced here by us on our farm in sunny south florida.  

  We will start with explaining the basic needs and baby tortoise care for Eastern Hermann’s Tortoises.  As babies (2-3 inches) and adults (4-7 inches) Hermann’s tortoises can be setup in a 20 gallon long terrarium (babies) up to a 40 gallon breeder (juveniles/adult males).  Once full grown can build a custom enclosure out of wood or purchase a land Water Land Tub.  These work great for keeping this species since they don’t grow as big as other species.  We prefer to keep them on dirt and cypress mulch about 2-3 inches deep for the dirt and a layer of around 2 inches cypress mulch over the surface.  Hermann’s tortoises like to burry them self’s so adding the depth keeps them happy.  These substrates also help with holding humidity.  It is important to keep your humidity at 70%.  

  We recommend getting a spray bottle and spraying the substrate once or twice a week to create moisture in return this will create humidity.  It is important to keep the enclosure moist but not drenched.  You can monitor your humidity by purchasing a Zoo Med Temperature and Humidity gage.  They are very affordable and help you stay on top of the proper temps and humidity.     

 They also require a ceramic based basking light fixture.  This is used for heating up a hot spot in their tank.  Also referred to as a basking spot.  The hot spot should range between 90-95 degrees.  This helps them with food digestion.  The other side of their tank can be kept a little cooler so they can get out of the warmer air if needed.  Since these are a Mediterranean species they generally don’t mind temps staying in the 70-80 range.   For your setup you should have a tank with a basking light and 10.0 UVB bulb for optimal conditions.  The UVB helps them produce Vitamin D3 which helps with calcium absorption and metabolizing which keeps their bones and shells hard and healthy. UVB is usually considered essential when keeping baby tortoises indoors.    

  For hides and decorations there are many to choose from.  You can use a simple Zoo Med Habba Hut for a hide.  It is made specifically for baby tortoises to hide in.  They feel more comfortable having a place they can go inside and hide.  For decorations there are many to choose from.  We like using real plants and dead tree leaves for leaf littler on top of the substrate.  

  Next we will discuss Eastern Hermann’s tortoises diet.  Hermann’s tortoises require a low protein, high fiber calcium rich diet.  We generally feed ours Mazuri Tortoise Chow.  We moisten it first and then add a little extra calcium with out D3  to each feeding.  We also mix it with greens.  We use cut up romain lettuce and spring mix.  For Hermann’s Tortoises we try to stay away from feeding fruits.  We suggest feeding the Mazuri Tortoise Chow mixed with some veggies to add with their diet.  This aides with keeping a healthy weight on your Hermann’s tortoise.  

  For hydration we recommend a low sided bowl that they can easily access themselves.  We usually use a small hard plastic plant bowl or terracotta bowl.  Make sure when picking out a bowl to pick out one that the tortoise can easily access and exit on its own.  We also recommend soaking your baby tortoise two to three times a week.  This is easily done by taking him/her out of their enclosure and placing them in a temporary soaking bowl.  You only need to do this for 10-20 minutes at a time two to three times a week.  It’s best to soak in luke warm water.  This assures your baby tortoise is getting the adequate hydration it needs.  All in all Eastern Hermann’s tortoises are easy to care for and do very well in captivity.  These beautiful tortoises will make a great addition to anyone's display or house hold for a new family pet.  

We will start with the basic baby tortoise care of Ibera Greek Tortoises.  Scientific name (Testudo graeca ibera).  This is one of the best species to keep in captivity.  Along with one of the smaller species.  Ibera Greek Tortoises have great personalities and do well in dry or humid conditions.  They are a quite adaptable species.  Ibera Greek Tortoises are a North African species.  There are several different localities.  We are currently only working with the Ibera Greek Tortoise.  We have been working with and breeding this species for the past 3 years.  

All of our Ibera Greek Tortoises that we offer on our website are produced here by us on our farm in sunny south Florida.     

 We will start with explaining the basic needs and care to set up baby Ibera Greek Tortoises.  As babies (2-3 inches) and adults (4-7 inches) Greek tortoises can be setup in a 20 gallon long terrarium (babies) up to a 40 gallon breeder (juveniles/adult males).  Once full grown can build a custom enclosure out of wood or purchase a land Water Land Tub.  These work great for keeping this species since they don’t grow as big as other species.  We prefer to keep them on a 50/50 dirt/sand mixture with cypress mulch about 2-3 inches deep for the dirt/sand and a thin layer of cypress mulch over the surface.  Greek tortoises like to burry them self’s so adding the depth keeps them happy.  These substrates also help with holding humidity.  It is important to keep your humidity at 65 - 70%.  

We recommend getting a spray bottle and spraying the substrate daily in return this will create humidity.  It is important to keep the enclosure moist but not drenched.  You can monitor your humidity by purchasing a Zoo Med Temperature and Humidity gage.  They are very affordable and help you stay on top of the proper temps and humidity. 

 Next we will discuss Ibera Greek tortoises diet. Greek tortoises require a low protein, high fiber calcium rich diet.  We generally feed ours Mazuri Tortoise Chow.  We moisten it first and then add a little extra calcium with out D3  to each feeding.  We also mix it with greens.  We use cut up romaine lettuce and spring mix.  For Greek Tortoises we try to stay away from feeding fruits.  We suggest feeding the Mazuri Tortoise Chow mixed with some veggies to add with their diet.  This aides with keeping a healthy weight on your Greek tortoise.

They also require a ceramic based basking light fixture.  This is used for heating up a hot spot in their tank.  Also referred to as a basking spot.  The hot spot should range between 95-100 degrees.  This helps them with food digestion.  The other side of their tank can be kept a little cooler so they can get out of the warmer air if needed.  Since these are a North African species they generally don’t mind temps staying in the 75-85 range.   For your setup you should have a tank with a basking light and 10.0 UVB bulb for optimal conditions.  The UVB helps them produce Vitamin D3 which helps with calcium absorption and metabolizing which keeps their bones and shells hard and healthy. UVB is usually considered essential when keeping baby tortoises indoors.    

For hides and decorations there are many to choose from.  You can use a simple Zoo Med Habba Hut for a hide.  It is made specifically for baby tortoises to hide in.  They feel more comfortable having a place they can go inside and hide.  For decorations there are many to choose from.  We like using real plants and dead tree leaves for leaf littler on top of the substrate.   

 Next we will discuss Ibera Greek tortoises diet. Greek tortoises require a low protein, high fiber calcium rich diet.  We generally feed ours Mazuri Tortoise Chow.  We moisten it first and then add a little extra calcium with out D3  to each feeding.  We also mix it with greens.  We use cut up romaine lettuce and spring mix.  For Greek Tortoises we try to stay away from feeding fruits.  We suggest feeding the Mazuri Tortoise Chow mixed with some veggies to add with their diet.  This aides with keeping a healthy weight on your Greek tortoise.

   For hydration we recommend a low sided bowl that they can easily access themselves.  We usually use a small hard plastic plant bowl or terracotta bowl.  Make sure when picking out a bowl to pick out one that the tortoise can easily access and exit on its own.  We also recommend soaking your baby tortoise two to three times a week.  This is easily done by taking him/her out of their enclosure and placing them in a temporary soaking bowl.  You only need to do this for 10-20 minutes at a time two to three times a week.  It’s best to soak in luke warm water.  This assures your baby tortoise is getting the adequate hydration it needs.  All in all Ibera Greek tortoises are easy to care for and do very well in captivity.  These beautiful tortoises will make a great addition to anyone's display or house hold for a new family pet.

We will start with the basic baby tortoise care of Leopard Tortoises.  Scientific name (Stigmochelys pardalis babcocki).  This is one of the prettiest species to keep in captivity.  Leopard Tortoises have great personalities and do well in dry conditions.  Leopard Tortoises are a African species.  There are several different localities.  We are currently only working with the (S.p.babcocki) Leopard Tortoise.  We have been working with and breeding this species for the past 3 years.  

All of our Leopard Tortoises that we offer on our website are produced here by us on our farm in sunny south Florida.     

We will start with explaining the basic needs and care to set up baby Leopard Tortoises.  As babies (2-3 inches) and adults (10-18 inches) Leopard tortoises can be setup in a 20 gallon long terrarium (babies) up to a 40 gallon breeder (juveniles) adults in custom built enclosures.  Once full grown can build a custom enclosure inside or outside of your house.   We prefer to keep them on a 50/50 dirt/sand mixture.  

We recommend getting a spray bottle and spraying the substrate every few days in return this will create humidity.  It is important to keep the enclosure moist but not drenched.  You can monitor your humidity by purchasing a Zoo Med Temperature and Humidity gage.  They are very affordable and help you stay on top of the proper temps and humidity. 

They also require a ceramic based basking light fixture.  This is used for heating up a hot spot in their tank.  Also referred to as a basking spot.  The hot spot should range between 95-100 degrees.  This helps them with food digestion.  The other side of their tank can be kept a little cooler so they can get out of the warmer air if needed.  Since these are a African species they generally don’t mind temps staying in the 75-80 degree range with the hot spot around 95-100 degrees as mentioned above.   For your setup you should have a tank with a basking light and 10.0 UVB bulb for optimal conditions.  The UVB helps them produce Vitamin D3 which helps with calcium absorption and metabolizing which keeps their bones and shells hard and healthy. UVB is usually considered essential when keeping baby tortoises indoors.

For hides and decorations there are many to choose from.  You can use a simple Zoo Med Habba Hut for a hide.  It is made specifically for baby tortoises to hide in.  They feel more comfortable having a place they can go inside and hide.  For decorations there are many to choose from.  We like using real plants and dead tree leaves for leaf littler on top of the substrate.   

Next we will discuss Leopard tortoises diet.  Leopard tortoises require a low protein, high fiber calcium rich diet.  We generally feed ours Mazuri Tortoise Chow.  We moisten it first and then add a little extra calcium with out D3 to each feeding.  We also mix it with greens.  We use cut up romaine lettuce and spring mix as well as hay.  For Leopard Tortoises we try to stay away from feeding fruits.  We suggest feeding the Mazuri Tortoise Chow mixed with some veggies and hay to add with their diet.  This aides with keeping a healthy weight on your Leopard tortoise.

  For hydration we recommend a low sided bowl that they can easily access themselves.  We usually use a small hard plastic plant bowl or terracotta bowl.  Make sure when picking out a bowl to pick out one that the tortoise can easily access and exit on its own.  We also recommend soaking your baby tortoise two to three times a week.  This is easily done by taking him/her out of their enclosure and placing them in a temporary soaking bowl.  You only need to do this for 10-20 minutes at a time two to three times a week.  It’s best to soak in luke warm water.  This assures your baby tortoise is getting the adequate hydration it needs.  All in all Leopard tortoises are easy to care for and do very well in captivity, if setup and cared for properly.  These beautiful tortoises will make a great addition to anyone's display or house hold for a new family pet.