Considertions before keeping a tortoise as a pet

Keeping a tortoise as a pet.

In South Africa a license is required to keep a tortoise on a domestic property.
As with any other pet, we need to determine whether it is fair to keep a tortoise.

We need to consider certain facts before adopting a tortoise as a pet.

• Why did we choose to have a tortoise as a pet?

• That a tortoise, given the right environment, can live a long time. (150 years)

• That tortoises are not cage animals and require a large space.

• They are territorial and keeping two males in a confined space are cruel. They will fight and sometimes to the death.

• That tortoises require food in order to survive.

• They require a space that is not damp yet provide sun and shady areas.

• That they require a space free from floods.

• They need a dry undisturbed area, of their own choosing, for hibernation.

• They may drown if they fall into an open swimming pool.

• Dogs will chew them.

• They do not like being handled.

• Conservationists are not keen to accept a domestic tortoise back into a conservation area once it has been in captivity.

• Domestic tortoises, like any other introduced animal, requires a time in quarantine, in case it carries disease, before it is introduced into a conservation area. It will only be accepted if the local population requires a boost.