do all tortoise need a heat lamp?

[natty]

hi io live in the UK and im interested in getting a tortoise and have done some research on them however i was wondering if all tortoise require a heat lamp or are there some that can survie without them?

on different websites i have read about tortoise that do require one however a friend of mine (who i have lost contact with) use to have a tortoise that lived in a box in the house this is why i am questioning it.

i would be grateful for any help

thanks

nat x

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Nat: I don't mean to speak ill of your friend, however, he/she was abusing that tortoise.

Tortoises are cold-blooded creatures. They don't make their own heat, they have to have a heat source. So, a tortoise in a box will be the same temperature as the room/box he is kept in. If your friend's house was real warm, that's probably why the tortoise didn't die. A tortoise has to be able to warm up to at least 80 degrees in order to be able to digest his food. Your body temperature is almost 100 degrees. And if your lay on the kitchen floor in your skivvies you can see just how cool your house is at floor level. So, yes, a tortoise being kept in the house, has to have a heat source.

If at all possible, your new tortoise should be set up outside in the garden, with the sun as its heat source.

Yvonne

 

[natty]

ok thankyou for that yvonne really helpful, unfortunatly im not in contact with her anymore...moved away and never really kept in touch. do you know of a particular type of tortoise that would be best to keep? also how do i go about hibernating them? x

 

[chadk]

ok thankyou for that yvonne really helpful, unfortunatly im not in contact with her anymore...moved away and never really kept in touch. do you know of a particular type of tortoise that would be best to keep? also how do i go about hibernating them? x

Not all hibernate. And those that do hibernate in the wild don't have to hibernate in captivity if you don't want them too. If they are very young or not healthy for example, you should not hibernate them. But hibernation is a hot topic for some. Many hibernate their torts and others never do.

A sulcata is an example of a tort that never hibernates in the wild or captivity. But they get huge and are hard for the avg person to keep.

Russians are great and do well in captivity if a few basic things are followed. Diet (high fiber, leafy greens, grasses, weeds...), temps, humidity, substrate, exercise, access to sunlight or UVB light...... Russians stay pretty small so they can live indoors on a tort table if needed.

Box turtles are also neat. They eat a variety of foods and can handle more fruits and meat\proteins (bugs, snails, slugs, etc).

Anyway, to know what is a good tort\turtle for you, we'd need to know what you are looking for. Indoor or outdoor? Size (do you want a tort that won't get bigger than about 10 inches or one that could get over a 100lbs? How much space can you give? Where do you live? What food sources are available in your area? Do you want a purely vegetarian type tort or one that can eat fruits and 'meat' as well? Desert type or tropical? Or maybe even a box turtle if you live in an area that matches their native habitat (Eastern Box or 3 toed do well in mild climates from the east coast to the west coast for example).

 

[Yvonne G]

Quite a few tortoise-keepers in the UK have Greeks, Hermann's and Russians. But tortoises really need to be outside. Its quite a bit cheaper to keep them outdoors. Indoors you need a UVB light, a heater (ceramic heat emitter), hiding place, substrate and a large enough habitat that they can get plenty of exercise.

The tortoise needs the UVB light in order to make its calcium work. Without it, they will develop metabolic bone disease (MBD). Their shell gets soft and the bones get weak. Here in the states the UVB lights are quite expensive (around $50 to 75) and even though they still give off light, the UV portion wears out after about 6 months.

Yvonne