Chaco tortoise, chelonoidis chilensis.

[GerardoCentroPet]

HI everyone, im new here. I started working at a pet shop, and they brought fifteen baby chacos. I am not sure that the info going around is really accurate. People here keep them in the garden usually and there isnt much info on them as an indoor kept species. Any information or experience would help me a lot. Particularly about lighting, just in case people take them home for indoor living or the times of the year where we dont get direct sunlight at the shop.
I can attach some pictures if that helps.
Thanks!

 

[Tom]

HI everyone, im new here. I started working at a pet shop, and they brought fifteen baby chacos. I am not sure that the info going around is really accurate. People here keep them in the garden usually and there isnt much info on them as an indoor kept species. Any information or experience would help me a lot. Particularly about lighting, just in case people take them home for indoor living or the times of the year where we dont get direct sunlight at the shop.
I can attach some pictures if that helps.
Thanks!

We would love to see pictures. That species is quite rare here in the US.

Here is the care info for them:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome!

 

[turtlesteve]

Read the care sheet linked by Tom above. Raising them is fairly straightforward but they are extremely susceptible to pyramiding and shell deformities if kept improperly. Babies are best kept indoors in a closed chamber. Lighting is the same as for any other tortoise species - per the care sheet.

Temps should be kept at about 85-90F during the day, and between 70-80F at night. A warmer basking area is OK but seems not to be absolutely required. They need high humidity - 80% to 90% typically. With a daily temp cycle it can be nearly 100% humidity at night and drop below 80% mid-day. Also, the substrate surface must never be wet or they will get fungal infections.

Diet wise they should get mostly leafy greens with some fruit and opuntia cactus.

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

Well thanks a lot people i will try to get good pics of them, both baby and adults coming in for vet check.

 

[crimson_lotus]

I read about Chaco tortoises in this book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/3899736036/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

There is probably a way for them to do well indoors but I don't think the majority of efforts have been successful

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

I read about Chaco tortoises in this book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/3899736036/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

There is probably a way for them to do well indoors but I don't think the majority of efforts have been successful

Yes, thats what worries me, keeping them indoor is just dumb since this is the native habitat. But we dont have at our disposal an outdoor garden so we are left with no choice. At least until people buy and get them home, which is almost exclusively for outdoor keeping. And of course they are really durable and succesfull as pets here. I read they dont do so well up north in the US although i cant see why since they are so close to just a mini galapagos.

 

[turtlesteve]

They do well indoors if their needs are met. A misunderstanding that contributes to death is believing they are a “desert” species that should be kept dry.

The other big problem comes to breeding - artificial incubation of eggs is difficult, and they lay extremely large eggs so are prone to fatal cases of egg binding/retention.

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

f egg binding/retention.

They do well indoors if their needs are met. A misunderstanding that contributes to death is believing they are a “desert” species that should be kept dry.

The other big problem comes to breeding - artificial incubation of eggs is difficult, and they lay extremely large eggs so are prone to fatal cases of egg binding/retention.

yes, ive seen in the clinic a lot of chacos come in for xrays just for that vets are aware of it.

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

heres a pic of them. we change the paper bedding daily when we use it, we just happened to run out of reptobark.

 

[Tom]

@GerardoCentroPet
Thank you for the picture. I want to soak them and get them on some damp substrate!

 

[Ray--Opo]

Great looking species.

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

heres a pic of them. we change the paper bedding daily when we use it, we just happened to run out of reptobark.

HI everyone, im new here. I started working at a pet shop, and they brought fifteen baby chacos. I am not sure that the info going around is really accurate. People here keep them in the garden usually and there isnt much info on them as an indoor kept species. Any information or experience would help me a lot. Particularly about lighting, just in case people take them home for indoor living or the times of the year where we dont get direct sunlight at the shop.
I can attach some pictures if that helps.
Thanks!

View attachment 341653

heres a pic of them. we change the paper bedding daily when we use it, we just happened to run out of reptobark. View attachment 341653

We would love to see pictures. That species is quite rare here in the US.

Here is the care info for them:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome!

here is a quick pic i got to make of an adult chaco tortoise, these i found out are also popular in venezuela, they call them "morrocoi", although there is some discussion whether if they are a subspecies or not. the vet guessed this tortoise to be at least 80 years old. She was as big as a flattened rugby ball, or probably bigger than that

 

[Tom]

here is a quick pic i got to make of an adult chaco tortoise, these i found out are also popular in venezuela, they call them "morrocoi", although there is some discussion whether if they are a subspecies or not. the vet guessed this tortoise to be at least 80 years old. She was as big as a flattened rugby ball, or probably bigger than thatView attachment 341972

Beautiful. Very special.

 

[MichaelL]

heres a pic of them. we change the paper bedding daily when we use it, we just happened to run out of reptobark. View attachment 341653

Those are awesome! Unfortunately already pyramiding though..

 

[turtlesteve]

Yeah that’s a NICE female and quite big too. They are larger from the southern part of their natural range, but genetic work suggests there are no subspecies.

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

Those are awesome! Unfortunately already pyramiding though.

Thankls ! Well how can u tell? and of course how could i fix that? I read to not be too scared of some pyramiding, and i have seen torts at the clinic with serious pyramiding acting completely normal. I dont expect this torts to be here more than two months but still how could i make sure i am not contributing to pyramiding?

 

[MichaelL]

Thankls ! Well how can u tell? and of course how could i fix that? I read to not be too scared of some pyramiding, and i have seen torts at the clinic with serious pyramiding acting completely normal. I dont expect this torts to be here more than two months but still how could i make sure i am not contributing to pyramiding?

Yeah pyramided tortoises can live happy lives and it is more of a visual issue. I can tell because the growth lines are very indented rather than smooth.. It is kind of like a big crevice. While, with new, healthy, growth, there are usually small crevices or cracks in between the scutes, those ones you have have deeper ones. A way to prevent it could be keeping their enclosure very moist and spraying their shells often. While pyramiding is more cosmetic, it does show that the conditions they are in are too dry which could impact their health in other ways.

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

yeah, that probably the thing.. id does look too dry most of the time. Thanks.

 

[GerardoCentroPet]

HI everyone, im new here. I started working at a pet shop, and they brought fifteen baby chacos. I am not sure that the info going around is really accurate. People here keep them in the garden usually and there isnt much info on them as an indoor kept species. Any information or experience would help me a lot. Particularly about lighting, just in case people take them home for indoor living or the times of the year where we dont get direct sunlight at the shop.
I can attach some pictures if that helps.
Thanks!