This is an account of how our leopard tortoises are
kept in Chicago. It is not only about keeping the tortoises in the
Snow Belt, but also about keeping them in an urban setting.
Although Snow Belt tortoises can only be kept outside
for a few months during the summer, I find ours do well being put outside to
graze and exercise as often as possible. On cooler days this may be
only for forty-five minutes or so. They are not put outside if it is
cool and damp out, but can take an hour of temperatures in the mid-60s as
long as the sun is shining on them and it is not windy. I determine how
long it is safe to leave a tortoise out by watching how long it eats.
The smaller ones cool down and stop eating sooner than the larger ones.
When they stop eating they are put away. We do not currently leave
tortoises out overnight due to concerns about theft, but did at one time.
When they stayed out overnight we had plant growth so thick it was hard to
find the tortoises and they dug right into the thickest plants for night
protection. Low spreading bushes like spirea are good bushes for
tortoises to hide under. So are tomato plants, at least until they are
trampled. Areas where tortoises go may get chemical fertilizer without
weed or bug killer in the fall after the tortoises are through going out,
but no chemicals are used during tortoise season. Garden and lawn
additives used now and then are lime (for calcium), fish emulsion and liquid
Plants most often consumed outdoors by our tortoises
are grass, sedum, dandelions and plantain. Our yard is small and would
quickly be stripped bare if the tortoises were allowed to eat whatever they
wanted, so some areas are fenced off and portable dog fences are usually
used to contain the animals. These pens come in eight foot lengths,
and two of them tied together with bungee cords can contain a couple of
tortoises. They can also be easily moved so the tortoises can mow
different parts of the lawn. Because the grazing is limited the
tortoises are fed imported weeds and tree leaves. Mulberry and grape
leaves are picked for the tortoises as well as long rough grasses and more
dandelions and plantain. There are other flowers and weeds fed to the
tortoises in small quantities, spent hibiscus family flowers, spiderworts,
dayflowers and unidentified little weeds that they find. Our goal is
to provide as much variety of growing plants as possible during the warm
months. When it is too cold for the tortoises to go outside but before
the first hard freeze, I pick grasses and weeds for them and mix with fruit
market greens. I should note that I am careful where plants are
picked. We not pick plants from places where plants might be exposed
to lawn or garden chemicals, and we avoid industrial and high traffic areas.
Although fruit is not recommended for leopard tortoises, mine have no
problem polishing off watermelon or an occasional cantaloupe during the
After the first hard freeze, sometime in December, I
start mixing whatever weeds and grasses I have in the tortoise fridge with
hay and fruit market greens until the weeds and grass are used up.
From that point until spring the tortoises are fed hay and fruit market
greens. The hay used is timothy hay from the either a pet store or
from the feed store. The feed store hay is called timothy, but has a
few other types of grasses mixed into it along with clover. They are
also fed alfalfa hay often as a small amount added to the other hay.
The most often used greens used are dandelions (Greek fruit market ones are
almost two feet long!) turnip greens, endive, collard, mustard, kale,
escarole and romaine. They also are fed opuntia pads chopped up.
Every mixed meal has at least one and usually two of the listed foods.
In addition, a large carrot is turned into peels and added quite often
Mixed in less often are asparagus, celery, spinach assorted little salad
greens and green beans and other vegetables. I try for constant
variety in the belief that every plant is probably a little different in
terms of nutrient and trace element composition. Every now and then
each tortoise is given a head of broccoli to enjoy. This is for beak
trimming purposes. For the same reason I occasionally throw them a
green plantain fruit. The largest tortoise can chew up a plantain, the
others can dent it severely but are not able to consume it. Winter
squash are occasionally cooked and mixed with the tortoise salads, as are
raw summer squash.
My wife and I have a friendly relationship with the
family owners of a Greek fruit and vegetable market. Throughout the
year we will ask for a box of throw away greens and feed the tortoises large
amounts of greens as their food for the day. These boxes are filled in
the morning with whatever greens are less then perfect, usually outer leaves
or leaves that are torn or wrinkled. Because the fruit market staff go
throughout the store to spruce up the produce the boxes contain a good
variety of plants.
My tortoises are given calcium with vitamin D3 on an
occasional basis. When they were small and rapidly growing they were
given vitamins a couple of times a week, but for quite a few years they have
been given vitamins less often. They are given calcium without D3 one
or two times a week, usually a couple of ground up Tums. The only UVB light
they have ever received indoors has come from Reptisun or Iguana 5.0 bulbs,
or Vita Lites before ZooMed lights were invented. I throw them a
cuttlebone now and then, but they ignore it. One of my tortoises was
acquired with a flexible shell and this animal would try and eat rocks, but
that stopped as she hardened up.
The tortoises are kept in marine plywood boxes with
eighteen inch high walls. One box is three by six feet, one four by six.
These are not near as large as I would like or what is recommended for the
animals, but are all there is room for. Because the cages are small,
the animals are taken out for exercise during the winter months. Even
though the boxes are small they do have a hot and cool end and a day/night
temperature gradient. The tortoise boxes are in a mostly
unheated basement where the winter temperature on a cold night can drop to
below 60 degrees F. Because of this, my tortoise cages are built over
a heated waterbed. Most of the tortoise care information sheets will
say that bottom heat is not the recommended way to provide a hot spot for
tortoises, and I agree with that. What I am doing with the water bed
is controlling the low end temperature. The heated water bed is also
insurance against drastic temperature drops due to a power outage, of which
we have had a few in the eighteen years the bed has been in use.
Our tortoise boxes are covered with sheets of
insulation. Air flow is provided by having a small crack at each end
of the box and a small hole cut into each end of the box. The air
comes in the cold end and flows upwards and out the warm end. Each box
has a four foot fluorescent light fixture in the box. Without any
other heat used the fixture heat when on will increase the air temperature
in the box five to ten degrees. In addition, a small flood light or
ceramic heat emitter is used at one end of the box. At the other end
of the box is a dark area provided by a piece of cloth hanging down almost
to the floor and covering most of the width of the cage. This provides
a cool area and is used for sleeping and for naps. The cool end
temperature at mid-day is around 80 F, the hot spot is around 95 F.
Tortoises are given regular soaking, bowls of water now
and then (they always dump them) and the cages and animals are misted when
the air is overly dry during cold weather. Cage floors have some straw
or hay and newspaper on them and this is sprayed during winter months.
During the summer a dehumidifier is running almost non-stop in the basement.
This may be of benefit to the tortoises, but is definitely needed to protect
anything stored in the basement as well as to keep the furnace from
My tortoises are taken out often for school or museum
reptile display sessions. They are transported in large coolers.
School shows are usually short, but a museum show can last all day.
Heat sources are provided sometimes at a museum, either an infrared emitter
or a heat pad. The larger tortoises remain active and leave the heat
source even if they drop down to an external temperature in the low 70s as
measured on the shell with an infrared thermometer. When doing a show of
long duration a bench or some other structure is used for a cave.
Tortoises will go under the bench for awhile and then come out. At any
show the tortoises are at food is provided. This may be long strips of
cactus, green beans, endive or romaine. The criteria for show food is
that it be long enough that students or visitors can hand feed the tortoises
without having their fingers nipped. Although a tortoise may do a two
day show, I rotate the animals so that there is at least a few weeks and
usually more time between shows for any particular tortoise. Our show
protocol includes liberal use of waterless hand sanitizer for exhibiters as
well as audience members. The only other tortoises which come in
contact with ours are three redfoot long term captives. Although
mixing of species is not recommended, these particular tortoises and our
leopards have mixed for many years with no adverse consequences.
I mentioned at the beginning putting the tortoises out
for brief periods of time even in cool weather. Something to keep in
mind if you do this is that in the spring the sun may be quite warm, but the
ground is only warm on the surface. If a tortoise goes in the shade or
sits in one spot so the sun is not shining on the ground where they are at,
they can cool off rapidly.
For small tortoises a coldframe placed on a wood deck
or porch will protect the animal from drafts and cold ground and provide an
environment that is warmer then the surrounding air. Directions for
coldframe construction can be found doing a web search, and they can be
bought through garden supply companies. Ideally they should be higher
in the back and slope towards the front, and the low front end should face
the sun. Mine are over twenty-five years old and have oil filled
openers which expand when warm for venting of excess heat. I do not
know if these are still available. An upside down box with one end cut
off will provide shade.
Click on the pictures to view them full