enrichment

[hyena]

I was just looking online with some suggestions on creative ways to keep my tortoise from getting bored...not a lot of success. So i thought id ask you guys.
What are some ways you provide enrichment for your tortoises?

 

[Laura]

FOOD VARIETY
they arent like dogs and cats.. they are about survival.. they arent domesticated like other animals in 'our' lives..
plant a new plant, new hide, but sometimes 'new' stresses them out.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you have a big enough enclosure, you can place bits of food all around the area, making him look for them.

Some of the bigger tortoises enjoy butting around a ball or small object. Sometimes they like to play in the sprinkler. I occasionally toss the larger tortoises a big branch off the mullberry tree.

 

[dmmj]

well if it is a male russian you could always get 2 or more females for him, ah the life of a male tortoise.

 

[Missy82]

Try adding things for him 2 climb on and make sure he has plenty of room 2 dig he will b happy with that

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Good suggestions above. I would say they need the following stimulation (in no particular order):

1) Food variety
2) Space
3) Structure
4) Foraging
5) Occasional interaction with others of their own kind

 

[wrmitchell22]

I like to add plants and hides, also move the food around, I created a hill over one of the hides, Boulder seems to like that He now likes the sprinkler too, he used to hate it, but I knew the water was good for him so I kept it up and now he enjoys the "rain"

 

[Madkins007]

Almost every captive animal we know of benefits from enrichments, and good zoos spend a lot of money on this.

In no particular order, some ideas are...

- Make the place feel as natural as possible. Find good photos of natural habitat for the species and try to simulate it the best you can. What kinds of hides would it use, where would it get water, etc.
- Offer it as much space and geographical variety as you can. A lot of keepers have found that their tortoises respond very well to things like hillsides, piles of rubble, etc.
- A lot of tortoises seem to enjoy climbing, so try a higher hill or something to let them get some elevation.
- If your tortoise is a digging species, give it places to dig.
- Vary the food- what and how it is offered. For most tortoises, you can tuck mushrooms in odd places. Try hanging bundles of greens so the tortoise has to reach it a bit, etc. Also try things like (depending on the species) offering fruits in rinds, offering a whole boiled egg (start some cracks for smaller tortoises), live earthworms, etc. There are also some things you can offer rarely as a treat but not as a normal food item like corn on the cob.
- Make getting the food a bit of a challenge- hide some of it under a chunk of bark, hang it on a string or cord so it moves...
- Live, tortoise safe plants
- A water dripper, fake rain, or some form of moving water
- Non-tortoise cage mates, like hermit crabs for Red-foots (be careful and do your research for this option!)
- More of the same species of tortoise- remember that in some species, males do not get along.
- Some tortoises enjoy pushing around light plastic ball, like Whiffle balls

 

[jwhite]

I change the layout of the enclosure once in a while, put the food in different areas, add new plants, and change the basking sites. I don't know if they like it, but it makes me feel like I am giving them some extra stimulation instead of going through the same boring routine everyday.

 

[TurtleTortoise]

I have a hill over one hide they like to "run" up and down it.

 

[hyena]

thanks for all the great suggestions :]