turtles and tortoise do not move large distances in their lifetimes, let alone on a daily basis......some species hatchlings are rarely found more than 40 ft from their nest until after their first year.....i've read studies from folks who have set up study sites and watched hundreds of wild box turtles , wood turtles, blandings turtles, gopher tortoise, desert tortoise, greek and russian tortoises for years to understand their behavior..... most of these live their entire life on less than an acre, a football field......
in genetics you read about inbreeding depression, in turtles, and i'd imagine tortoises, you read about outbreeding depression......i'm guessing it'd be an adaptation to lack of mobility?
adapting to an 8'x4',2'x6', 3'x4' cage imo, is less harmful than adapting to life without the sun, daylght dawn/dusk rhythms, and environmental temperature variation......... i have become of the opinion everyone who owns a wild animal, their goal should be to house it outdoors at some point.......imo, once you do that you'll see, the enclosure size being anything even remotely similar to their natural territory dimensions is the less important than the enrichment they get from having to think and act as they were intended to.......... any thoughts on enclosure size in keeping birds? or fish?
in genetics you read about inbreeding depression, in turtles, and i'd imagine tortoises, you read about outbreeding depression......i'm guessing it'd be an adaptation to lack of mobility?
adapting to an 8'x4',2'x6', 3'x4' cage imo, is less harmful than adapting to life without the sun, daylght dawn/dusk rhythms, and environmental temperature variation......... i have become of the opinion everyone who owns a wild animal, their goal should be to house it outdoors at some point.......imo, once you do that you'll see, the enclosure size being anything even remotely similar to their natural territory dimensions is the less important than the enrichment they get from having to think and act as they were intended to.......... any thoughts on enclosure size in keeping birds? or fish?