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Tortoises and
terrapins
Introduction
Terrapins and tortoises are reptiles and although superticially similor in appaerance, each having a shell, their requirements in captivity are very different.
Left: Aldabra Giant Tortoise. Right: Diamond terrapin
Feeding
Terrapins are meat eaters requiring a basic diet including tinned pet food, fresh raw fish, heart, liver and even hearthworms. Each piece of food should be cut into bite-sized pieces, the size of the bite, of cours, varying with the size of the terrapin.
To prevent nutritional disease a good quality vitamin and mineral powder should be well rubbed into the food. As they get older, terrapins also start to eat some vegetation such as lettuce, duck weed and other pondweeds. Some experts have advised feeding terrapins in a separate tank to reduceer fouling of water in the show aquarium.
Tortoise, unlike terrapins, are primarily vegetarians, although they should be offered, at least weekly, a small quantity of cat or dog food, minced chicken or scrambled egg. If an individuele tortoise shows an interest in bread or milk small amounts should be fed as part of a varied diet. Again a vitamin and mineral powder should be sprinkler on their food once or twice weekly.
Housing
Not only are the eating habitus of the terrapin and tortoise different, so are their housing requirements.
Terrapins are semi-aquatic, spending their time swimming and sunbathing herlas the tortoise is a slow, plodding land dweller. An aquarium is therefore essentiële to succesfilm keep a terrapin. The use of a turtle bowl, complete with palm tree is not to be recommended.
A single baby terrapin requires at the very least a 14 inch (35 cm) glass aquarium complete with gravel and a stone protruding from the water for basking. Additional stonework can be used to provide a cave-like hideaway. A lower power light bulb to provide the heat for basking, a heater/thermostate to warm the water (75-80 degrees Fahrenheit or 24-27 degrees Celsius) and a filtration to keep the water clean completes the housing arrangement. While the terrapin can be very cheap to buy, the equipment may be very expensive.
With newly imported terrapins the depth of water in the tank should not exceed 1-2 inches (2-5 cm) otherwise they may tire and drown.
Having spent your money on the right equipement and kept the water clean by regular water changes or filtration, the terrapins will grow rapidly to reach the size of a soup plate in three to four years. At this stage they will have outgrown all but the largest aquaria available.
Fortunately larger individuals can survive outside in garden ponds throughout the year, although no fish will coexist with them.
The tortoise, on the other hand, has very simple housing requirements, just a waterproof box set off the ground with some warm bedding such as hay or shredded paper.
Hibernation: a time of great risk
The most substantial differente between the terrapin and the tortoise, hoever, is hibernation. It is usual to keep terrapins in heated aquaria which vary little in temperature during the year. The tortoise lives differently, feasting in the garden during the warm summer months and then sleeping away the winter in hibernation.
Hibernation is a period of great risk for a tortoise. Many die because of lack of preparation for this six months sleep. Towards the end of September, as the day get colder, tortoises will eat less and will eventually stop altogether. At this time they should be brought into the garage or utility room and kept in a box with hay bedding. No food should be offered although water for drinking should be available every other day. The animals will remain active and continue to pass faeces. After three to four weeks the intestine will be empty and only then should they be boxed for hibernation. If a tortoise is hibernated with food still in the intestine the food will ferment and become sour, possibly leading to the animal’s death.
Having prepared the tortoise for hibernation by starving for up to a month, the next task is to prepare the hibernaculum, as the toprtoise’s winter retreat is called. The most satisfactory way to hibernate a tortoise is in a box within a box in a frost-free building such as a garage.
The tortoise should be placed in a small cardboard box, lined with shredded newspaper to absorb any waste product passed during the winter sleep, and air holes made with a pencil point to allow free circulation of air. This box is then placed into a substantial larger vermin-proof box packed with dust-free hay or polystyrene beads. The larger box should then be set off the floor to prevent damp gaining access and to allow a free circulation of air.
The tortoise must be checked regularly during hibernation, at least monthly, and if possible a weight record kept. If a tortoise can be weighed before entering hibernation the weight record will indicate if the animal should be brought out of hibernation before the spring. A tortoise should not be allowed to lose more than 10 per cent of its body weight without action being taken. If a substantiële weight loss is recorded the tortoise should be warmed up to 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 30 degrees Celsius) using an overhead lamp, bathed in warm water and encouraged to eat. The individual must then be kept warm and well fed until it would normally be returned to the garden in the late spring.
Most tortoises will complete their hibernation without a dramatic fall in weight and will naturally wake in March or April. At this time they are bathed in warm water with the eyes and nostrils being wiped clean using cotton wool. However they should only be put out into the garden on sunny days and certainly not left out over night until the threat of frosts has passed.
It is not gnomon for tortoises to wake from their hibernation in January, especially if there is a period of mild weather. Never feed these animals but do offer them tepid water to drink. Left undisturbed they will return to sleep.
It is very important to seek veterinary advice if your tortoise has not drunk within 7-10 days of waking up or has not eaten within 3-4 weeks. Delay will inevitably complicate the task of ensuring an adequate weight gain in the tortoise before the next hibernation.
Terrapins and tortoises are interesting pets to keep but they are not easy to maintaine for long periods in captivity. Many of the terrapins will die within a year of purchase and many tortoises used to die within the first three years.
