Keeping a Tortoise (temporarily) in a UK flat

[TortoiseNewbiw]

My fiancée and I are considering getting a Mediterranean spur thigh tortoise - neither of us have had one before, and we're unsure if it's suited to our current situation - as much as we both love the idea. The tortoise in question is currently 6 months old, tentatively named Davros (yes, we're huge Doctor Who fans!) and is being given away (we're aware that spur thigh sales are restricted to license-holders in the EU) by a friend of my fiancée.

We currently live in a ground-floor flat with no garden or outside space - however, we do plan to buy our first house (non-negotiably with a garden) within the next 2 years (maximum - we hope less) and start a family of our own, so the main concern for us is if we would be harming the wellbeing of the tortoise by keeping it indoors for the first two years of its life.

My own logic is split - one half of my brain says that tortoises live for an exceptionally long period of time (> 70 years) so a 2-year stint in a flat would be a relatively small proportion of its life, and the other half is saying that it would be unfair to deprive it of an outside environment for any length of time.

We would rather not get a tortoise at all than selfishly make it fit into our lives at the expense of harming its life or development, so any help would be hugely appreciated. We fully plan on getting a UV lamp and a proper enclosure, but the ongoing question is if it's actually fair to the animal.

 

[Yvonne G]

At 6 months, your new tortoise would do just fine indoors for a couple years. I would give a different answer if this were a grown tortoise.

Now-a-days there are good UVB lights on the market - almost as good as real sun. UVB from the light along with calcium-rich foods and your new baby should be quite ok for a couple years indoors.

Welcome to the forum! We have a very good care sheet on Greek tortoises (Mediterranean spur thigh) pinned at the top of our Greek section here on the Forum.

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome from another UK Greek tort owner - we have had ours for 46 years!

You do need to think about your plans a bit. Torts aren't portable - you can't put them in kennels when you go away - you will need to think round who will care from it when you go on holiday for example.

Please do some reading. We have excellent guides produced by species experts who can help you get started without making potentially expensive mistakes when buying things.

They are working hard to correct the misinformation widely available on the internet and, sadly, perpetuated by many pet shops and some breeders.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Greek Tortoise Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-testudo-graeca-care-sheet-overview.87146/

Care of Young Greeks
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/

Please ask lots of questions as you prepare and before you buy!

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

I presume that Joesmum has told you almost everything.