Never owned a tortoise before. I have questions.

[Gorilla]

I have a lot of landscaping in my yard. I want to give the tortoise full range of the yard. I realize the tortoise will eat the plants, and I have no problem with that. But will it completely destroy the plants?

I have a koi pond, I don't care if the tortoise goes in there, but will it eat the fish?

I want a larger tortoise, and was wondering if it would end up knocking down a fence, and if so what could be done to prevent this?

In Hawaii, will I need heating stuff for the tortoise house or is that only for colder climates?

What kind of tortoise would one recomend for me? I was thinking an Aldabra or something of similar size.

 

[Jacqui]

Welcome!!

As I was reading your post, I mentally kept saying to myself, "a lot will depend on what tortoise you end up getting" and then at the very end, I see your thinking big. So we are talking aldabra or sulcata most likely. Maybe even a Leopard?

Depending on how big your yard is and how much the tortoise you end up with likes the plants in it, yes a large percent will be toast. First you have them eating the plants and often they either eat it so far down it doesn't revive or they keep eating any new life that does struggle to come back, with the end result in plant loss. It doesn't end there either, a lot of plant loss will be simply from them tromping on the plants. A lot of tortoise mentality seems to bulldoze thru things, not around them. Of course, the sulcata especially may help you with landscaping ideas of it's own and dig wallows and tunnels for you.

The koi pond may need to be fenced off depending on how deep it is and the ease for the tortoise to climb in and out of it. Also the current size of the tortoise in question. While tortoises can drown, some can also swim. I am going to bet, you'll want to fence it off. Reasoning is, these guys have a nasty habit of going to the toilet as they soak, is your filter system up to what almost appears to be enough manure to have come from a small pony?
While most of the bigger tortoises, are not normally meat eaters, it doesn't mean one may not take advantage of an opportunity to eat a quick meal. I don't see them really being able to catch one of the koi however. They may manage to squish them. Do you have plants in the pond? Now those may get eaten.

The fence... A nice solid one is your best bet. Many will suggest solid walls, so he won't want to get out to get what he can see on the other side... you know the grass is greener over there. Keep in mind, especially with a sulcata, they have the well earned reputation of being single minded bulldozers at times and as such are hard on fences. Then you also need to be able to keep out predators from coming after your tortoise. As a youngster especially, danger can come from any where, including the sky so during that stage he will need a well covered enclosure when outside.

A large enclosure, lots of food sources, shade area, mud wallow, those kinds of things make for contented tortoises. Those are the type of tortoises less likely to work on escaping. Helps too, if he never has been able to escape the first time, because those tortoises seem to keep trying different fence sections to find another weak spot. Plus there are just some who seem to have to prove they can escape, no matter what you do.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Gorilla:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know your name?

I think you need to back up a bit and re-think your options. Someone who has never owned a tortoise before should learn more about them before he jumps into buying an Aldabran tortoise. I suggest you start with a smaller, hardier species. There are a couple breeders in Hawaii of leopard tortoises. I think that would be the way for you to go first. Buy a leopard baby and bring it up to "outside size." Then, after you've become familiar with tortoises if you still want an Aldabran, by all means...

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Good points above.

 

[Gorilla]

Hi Gorilla:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know your name?

I think you need to back up a bit and re-think your options. Someone who has never owned a tortoise before should learn more about them before he jumps into buying an Aldabran tortoise. I suggest you start with a smaller, hardier species. There are a couple breeders in Hawaii of leopard tortoises. I think that would be the way for you to go first. Buy a leopard baby and bring it up to "outside size." Then, after you've become familiar with tortoises if you still want an Aldabran, by all means...

I'm Josh nice to meet everyone. Lots of good tips.

Are Albabrans too much trouble for someone just starting out? I was thinking I had a really nice habitat outside to keep one in which is why I was thinking big. I think half the fun for me would be watching it roam around outside.

I really kind of fell in love with Albabrans, but I don't want to somehow screw it up if it happens to be an tortoise for a more advanced keeper.

Maybe I'll pick up a leopard tortoise that's already a halfway decent size and work with that. I'd really like to skip the inside stage if possible.

 

[Jacqui]

I have never owned an Aldabra, so take what I say with a grain of salt, okay. I have saw where folks do well with an Aldabra as their first tortoise. I would hesitate to suggest that as a first tortoise mainly because your going to be investing a lot of money into buying one. Does initial price figure into your thoughts at all?

Now if your still thinking of them after knowing your easily talking $2,000 for just a hatchling, do some research. Ask folks who live there with tortoises what they think about it. (If you need a name, I can give you one of a guy there who raises mostly Leopard tortoises). I would also speak to folks who actually have Aldabran. That would be like Yvonne (emys emys) and Aldabraman.