# Desert Tortoise Care Sheet?



## nathanlevi (May 1, 2018)

Is there a desert tortoise care sheet because I might be getting two desert tortoises.


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## TechnoCheese (May 1, 2018)

They have relatively similar care to Russians-
Russian Tortoise Care Sheet
https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/
Please keep in mind that if you get both of them, you can’t house them together. They shouldn’t be kept in pairs.


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## nathanlevi (May 1, 2018)

TechnoCheese said:


> They have relatively similar care to Russians-
> Russian Tortoise Care Sheet
> https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/
> Please keep in mind that if you get both of them, you can’t house them together. They shouldn’t be kept in pairs.


thanks for the care sheet. why can't they be kept in pairs I heard that that rule is only applied to male desert tortoises not female and male


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## nathanlevi (May 1, 2018)

is it ok to keep female and female together?


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## TechnoCheese (May 1, 2018)

nathanlevi said:


> thanks for the care sheet. why can't they be kept in pairs I heard that that rule is only applied to male desert tortoises not female and male



No tortoises should ever be kept in pairs, especially when there’s a male. With a male and a female, the male will mate the female to death.
Tortoises are completely solitary animals, and only see other tortoises as mates or combatants. Even being able to see another tortoise stresses them, and with only two, there is always a dominant and a subordinate. The subordinate is always stressed because it’s being bullied, and the dominant is always stressed because it can’t get the other out of its territory.
You should never House tortoises in pairs.


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## orv (May 1, 2018)

TechnoCheese said:


> No tortoises should ever be kept in pairs, especially when there’s a male. With a male and a female, the male will mate the female to death.
> Tortoises are completely solitary animals, and only see other tortoises as mates or combatants. Even being able to see another tortoise stresses them, and with only two, there is always a dominant and a subordinate. The subordinate is always stressed because it’s being bullied, and the dominant is always stressed because it can’t get the other out of its territory.
> You should never House tortoises in pairs.


 I'm going to disagree with you here: two female desert tortoises can be housed in a properly sized area without undue agression.


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## TechnoCheese (May 1, 2018)

orv said:


> I'm going to disagree with you here: two female desert tortoises can be housed in a properly sized area without undue agression.



While I agree that it might work in some cases, I would say that in pairs there’s still a large chance of failure compared to a group or just one. And even then, I would assume that you would need a very large enclosure with lots of sight barriers to make it work. They would also be much happier alone anyway, and I don’t believe that it would benefit the tortoises.(please correct me if any of this is wrong!)


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## orv (May 1, 2018)

I have never witnessed any sign of aggression, be it for food, hides or territory among our properly housed female CDTs. Our's sleep, by choice, in the same burrow even though there is another available. Just our experience.


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## Yvonne G (May 1, 2018)

For a care sheet, you can trust the info on https://www.donsdeserttortoises.com/


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## orv (May 1, 2018)

Yvonne G said:


> For a care sheet, you can trust the info on https://www.donsdeserttortoises.com/


 Thank you, Yvonne. Nancy and I have enjoyed Don's care sheet and found it most useful. We are active members of the CTTC chapter in the Low Desert and meet at the Living Desert.


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## Tom (May 1, 2018)

Yvonne G said:


> For a care sheet, you can trust the info on https://www.donsdeserttortoises.com/


There is some good info in there, but its hard to follow and there are links to everything instead of explanation.


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## Tom (May 1, 2018)

orv said:


> I have never witnessed any sign of aggression, be it for food, hides or territory among our properly housed female CDTs. Our's sleep, by choice, in the same burrow even though there is another available. Just our experience.


I have to disagree with you here Orv. Just because they aren't actively trying to kill each other, doesn't mean they aren't stressed, or that living as a pair is okay. And sharing the same burrow doesn't mean they are buddies, it means one is trying to crowd the other out of the territory. No tortoises should be kept in pairs, but DTs are one of the worst species to do this with. Your tortoises would be much better off living alone in their own enclosures.


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## orv (May 1, 2018)

Tom, I deeply respect you and your wealth of knowlege on tortoise husbandry. Still, our tortoises have lived together in a seemingly peaceful manner for a long time. For now, we'll have to agree to disagree. There are many learned keepers on both sides of the fulcrum on our tortoise's proper care. I truly desire to be a proper steward of our CDTs. I keep learning on a daily basis. Thank you for your responses.


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## Tom (May 1, 2018)

orv said:


> Tom, I deeply respect you and your wealth of knowlege on tortoise husbandry. Still, our tortoises have lived together in a seemingly peaceful manner for a long time. For now, we'll have to agree to disagree. There are many learned keepers on both sides of the fulcrum on our tortoise's proper care. I truly desire to be a proper steward of our CDTs. I keep learning on a daily basis. Thank you for your responses.


Thank you for your consideration and kind words. As usual, I hope for the best for you and yours Orv.


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## ascott (May 1, 2018)

nathanlevi said:


> is it ok to keep female and female together?



If you are referring to CDTs then no, it is not acceptable--legally nor does it work well. As described, it is more usual for a negative living situation for the female.


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## ascott (May 1, 2018)

Tom said:


> I have to disagree with you here Orv. Just because they aren't actively trying to kill each other, doesn't mean they aren't stressed, or that living as a pair is okay. And sharing the same burrow doesn't mean they are buddies, it means one is trying to crowd the other out of the territory. No tortoises should be kept in pairs, but DTs are one of the worst species to do this with. Your tortoises would be much better off living alone in their own enclosures.



Tom, I have to agree here. Also, even males will "survive" in the same burrow when presented with the need to survive or die based on the environment....but the moment the males have good weather, females and alternatives, it is on....gladiator mode kicks in. 

This is a highly aggressive species...male and female. All seems fine for awhile and then all of a sudden one is found a victim of a roll over as a result of an attack....and what we humans consider a long time, is but a moment of opportunity for these gladiators, male and female. I too always wish and hope well thoughts and outcomes for those who insist on housing more than one of these guys in a single enclosure....


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## nathanlevi (May 2, 2018)

thank you all for helping


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## Savina (Feb 11, 2019)

nathanlevi said:


> Is there a desert tortoise care sheet because I might be getting two desert tortoises.


I have found this site to be extremely useful for desert tortoise care http://tortoisegroup.org/


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## Grandpa Turtle 144 (Feb 11, 2019)

orv said:


> Tom, I deeply respect you and your wealth of knowlege on tortoise husbandry. Still, our tortoises have lived together in a seemingly peaceful manner for a long time. For now, we'll have to agree to disagree. There are many learned keepers on both sides of the fulcrum on our tortoise's proper care. I truly desire to be a proper steward of our CDTs. I keep learning on a daily basis. Thank you for your responses.


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## Ciri (Feb 17, 2019)

I found this care sheet very helpful. 
http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/tap_tortcare.php
Note: I do keep water always available for young DT

And this is a great source of seeds for plants you can grow which are their natural food in the wild. 
https://www.nativeseeds.org/collections/wildflowers

They even have a desert tortoise mix!
https://www.nativeseeds.org/collections/wildflowers/products/wf009?variant=281244492


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## GardenDmpls (Mar 10, 2019)

This is interesting. When I was a teen in the 1960s I did turtle/tortoise rescue in Texas. Basically I would take Berlanders (Texas gopher) tortoises that were hit by cars, use sulfur (perhaps sulfa) powder from the vet and masking tape (no other tape available back then) and repair their shells. They were almost all males, as they were the ones out wandering across the roads looking for females. They were kept in a large courtyard with a few homemade ponds (this was in Corpus Christi) and plenty of veggies (less than perfect discards- not rotten, just ugly or over-bought) from a nearby supermarket, and fresh grazing, so no fighting over food and water access. They only had run-ins during breeding season and then only when we had the one female, but they had space to retreat. Eventually I released them all in the Welder Wildlife Refuge.


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## Yvonne G (Mar 10, 2019)

The difference being keeping them indoors as opposed to outside in a large well planted yard. The OP was asking about babies, which would be kept indoors. There's isn't an indoor enclosure big enough to safely house two tortoises.


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## GardenDmpls (Mar 10, 2019)

Ah, I see. We were lucky to have that courtyard set-up. You could look out from any part of the house. Besides the gophers, had musk turtles, box turtles, red eared sliders and a few others, as well as a horned lizard. We called that a horney toad- My Mom said," If they were, there would be more of them". Went right over my head- we were more innocent then. Part of the area was grass, part tropical vegetation and there was a concrete paver patio and areas of decorative river rocks of all sizes, so they had a pretty good choice of where to be. The ponds were hard plastic kiddie pools sunk into the ground. There was also bamboo. They got piles of tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers and so forth.


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