Why Aren't Tort Owners More Concerned About Predators?

[Brooke]

I am new, but have read many of the threads and I am very surprised that many tort owners do not seem to be concerned about predators. All of the literature that I have read indicates that predators are a serious threat to tortoises.

I do not understand building outdoor enclosures and then leaving them open at the top. There is so much to learn when becoming a "parent" of a tortoise, how do people miss this?

 

[BlackMountain412]

I am new, but have read many of the threads and I am very surprised that many tort owners do not seem to be concerned about predators. All of the literature that I have read indicates that predators are a serious threat to tortoises.

I do not understand building outdoor enclosures and then leaving them open at the top. There is so much to learn when becoming a "parent" of a tortoise, how do people miss this?

I learned my lesson two weeks ago! 1 tortoise killed and two still missing! I recovered two. They must of smelled the mazuri and came for that and discovered my tortoises as well.

 

[GBtortoises]

Most concerns are based on where you live and the type of predators present. I live in a very rual area where there is just about every predator known to North America. In 25+ years of keeping tortoises outdoors I've had one problem with a racoon. At the time I was also keeping several species of aquatic turtles. Part of their diet was trout chow pellets. The racoon was likely attracted to that and then discovered the tortoises and turtles. It took me about a week to figure out why the racoon was coming around each night. I removed the trout chow pellets and the racoon didn't bother again. At this time I have several adult and juvenille tortoises and turtles in outdoor enclosures. The racoon never bothered anything but an enclosure of Ibera tortoises. I lost one forever and found two out in the field within the next few days after. But where I live the predators and scavengers have plenty of food occuring naturally and don't have the need to go looking in garbage cans and back yards. Predators that live in more populated areas soon learn that humans equal food sources (garbage, gardens, small pets, etc...).

So the level of concern is really based on the environment that you live in.

 

[Baoh]

I am new, but have read many of the threads and I am very surprised that many tort owners do not seem to be concerned about predators. All of the literature that I have read indicates that predators are a serious threat to tortoises.

I do not understand building outdoor enclosures and then leaving them open at the top. There is so much to learn when becoming a "parent" of a tortoise, how do people miss this?

It is almost as if different situations are different.

 

[jeffbens0n]

I have live in a rural area that does have raccoon's and foxes and have an open topped enclosure. I have electric fence wire around the top of the pen. The idea is that anything wants to come in would touch this first and be scared away. Obviously they could just jump straight over, but I think most wild animals are curious in nature and would investigate something new before just jumping in.

 

[Tccarolina]

I don't have any other than housecats, which I discourage from visiting my yard. Scrub jays and occasionally crows visit. I imagine they would make off with hatchlings if they found them before I did, but I don't want to put bird screening over my entire yard!

 

[Jacqui]

I am a lot the the above posts, I live on the edge of a small village (the sign says 82 I believe for the population, but to get that I think they counted the horses and perhaps an odd dog or cat ).

Knocking on wood here (used my head actually ), I have used open topped enclosures for years (getting to be around the 20 years mark. I have not lost any turtle or tortoise, yet. Now chickens and other poultry are a different story. Might add in the little fact that the chickens HAD A COVER over their outside run.

I think the wildlife just does not either know those shells are food or think they are not worth the work to get them. Most of these enclosures have only had the side wire up to about 24", so they could easily even just hop in. My new remodeled ones have the wire sides, but open topped.

I make sure no food is ever left sitting around in the enclosures, which I think helps. I have lots of plants acting like a false canopy or roof over the enclosures or atleast blocking from the sky view the tortoises.

I do use some covers on small enclosures which have small tortoises (think hatchlings) as they are open to more kinds of common bird attacks. Keep in mind I also have cats and dogs around outside, which I think gives them some added protection from others predators. All the enclosures are also behind a primary fencing along the property lines, for some you may have three fences to cross. For the enclosures being built for the sulcatas to move into, there will also be an electric fence as the enclosure is further from human occupation and will be so large.

So to sum it up, we may not have covers on our enclosures, but that doesn't mean we aren't concerned about predators.

 

[Neal]

I am new, but have read many of the threads and I am very surprised that many tort owners do not seem to be concerned about predators. All of the literature that I have read indicates that predators are a serious threat to tortoises.

I do not understand building outdoor enclosures and then leaving them open at the top. There is so much to learn when becoming a "parent" of a tortoise, how do people miss this?

I thought I saw a lot of people with closed top enclosures on the forum.

It all depends on where you live I guess. I live in the middle of the city, there is no threat of predation, not even cats where I am at...anymore .

 

[wrmitchell22]

Considering that Boulder will eventually need my entire yard to roam it is not likely that I will be covering my entire yard. I don't think it is a lack of knowledge or care, I think it is a logistics and area spedific concern. It is a good point though

 

[Yvonne G]

Since most predators are nocturnal, I make sure all my turtles and tortoises are inside their houses with the doors tightly closed at night.

I'm pretty sure most of us ARE concerned about predators, we just don't go around talking much about it.

 

[Maude]

Like Yvonne said-only predators I am worried about are nocturnal-I have a dog door and greyhounds and they keep my yard free of predators during the day especially cats and those dangerous bunnies and squirrels. They have no interest in Maude and do not jump into her pen. (I would say cannot jump into her pen and although true it is embarrassing--greyhounds are not the brightest dogs in the world....just the cutest!) I do always make sure Maude is protected in her covered area at night when the dogs might miss a roaming raccoon.

 

[Missy]

I have seen this topic several times. Yes I believe most are concerned and do what we can to protect our precious torts.

 

[wrmitchell22]

Like Yvonne said-only predators I am worried about are nocturnal-I have a dog door and greyhounds and they keep my yard free of predators during the day especially cats and those dangerous bunnies and squirrels. They have no interest in Maude and do not jump into her pen. (I would say cannot jump into her pen and although true it is embarrassing--greyhounds are not the brightest dogs in the world....just the cutest!) I do always make sure Maude is protected in her covered area at night when the dogs might miss a roaming raccoon.

I have a greyhound pit mix, she is adorable, but a total ditz

 

[Mary Ellen]

I learned my lesson two weeks ago! 1 tortoise killed and two still missing! I recovered two. They must of smelled the mazuri and came for that and discovered my tortoises as well.

I'm so sorry this happened. Do you know what animals killed your tortoise?

 

[October]

It boils down to we do what we can and think we should do. My Russian roams my completely blocked fenced back yard. No way I could cover that from grackles and the odd birds that congregate at the golf course water trap behind my house. But the flip side is that she's probably much too big for a bird to carry off. When I put my hatchlings out, they go in my garden boxes, which grow so thickly that I doubt a bird flying by could see them. And cats don't like my Great Dane - all she wants to do is play!

And sh*t happens. How many of us have had a puppy squirm out the door after dropping $500 at vet/pet store. Or a snake that gets out of a completely sealed enclosure? Etc etc etc.

So it goes.

 

[DixieParadise]

I agree with all the above posts. It is not that we are not concerned or do not care...it is just that each of us knows our own surroundings. My torts go up at night and in the daylight hours the only thing I have the need to protect them from is the sun...

 

[lynnedit]

I am new, but have read many of the threads and I am very surprised that many tort owners do not seem to be concerned about predators. All of the literature that I have read indicates that predators are a serious threat to tortoises.

I do not understand building outdoor enclosures and then leaving them open at the top. There is so much to learn when becoming a "parent" of a tortoise, how do people miss this?

I think you bring up a good point, from the perspective of us newbies. For many of us, we are newer to tort keeping, and learning for the first time what it means to keep a wild animal (sort of) for a pet, who stays outside 24/7 for at least part of the year. We have not had to worry much about predators, and we don't know how things work in this way on our piece of land. It is true that a lot of the enclosures are beautiful, but don't have covers, for the very good reasons mentioned in this thread. But it can be confusing when you are trying to absorb all of this information and probably over worrying about everything from diet to safety. We are lucky to have this site!

 

[Madkins007]

You also need to remember- these are tortoises, not some easy, tasty, soft-bodied animal. Few predators will bother if there are other, tastier options. Having said that, there are definitely some things to consider in almost ALL situations:

1. Your tortoise NEEDS good, secure shelter. Not just a box, either. Burrows, debris piles, and other options they can dig into and wedge into tightly helps a lot. Lots of natural cover helps a lot as well!

2. The smaller the tortoise, the bigger the risk. A 3" yearling is at much greater risk from a wider variety of predators than a 10"er is. Smaller tortoises need more security, period.

3. Some things attract predators- especially food, blood, and carrion smells. Keep the habitat clean. Even things like mice and rats and some insects in the habitat can cause injury to a tortoise.

 

[DixieParadise]

Mark,

You do bring up valid points about keeping the enclosure clean and giving them something to burrow into...to feel secure.

 

[BlackMountain412]

I learned my lesson two weeks ago! 1 tortoise killed and two still missing! I recovered two. They must of smelled the mazuri and came for that and discovered my tortoises as well.

I'm so sorry this happened. Do you know what animals killed your tortoise?

Yeah raccoons. My redfoots were doing fine when I had veggies out there for them. They spent 2-3 nights outdoor and 3-4 indoors at night. He one and only time I left some
Mazuri out there was the time raccoons came by. Not taking any chances anymore. I am certain the two
Missing is still alive but my backyard and neighbors is a mess!