forstens tortoise

[moswen]

does anyone on here own a forsten's tortoise? just curious. how is your enclosure set up? are they relatively shy? do they do well in captivity?

 

[tortoiseguy65]

I have kept forsten's tortoises for about 3 years now. I started with a small group of wild caught adults. Unfortunately, I lost most of the group and only have a single female from my originals. They were very tough to acclimate and tended to be quite shy at first. My remaining female however is quite outgoing and will feed from my hand. She loves mushrooms and Star fruit. She will also eat some of the typical greens and fruit fed to my other tortoises. In addition to the adult female, I now have 2 hatchlings from 2009. They are kept like my redfoot and elongated hatchlings and eat the same diet. I would highly recommend captive produced forsten's but would caution anyone thinking about trying wild caughts. Will try to get some pics of mine posted this week.

Take care,
Jeff Port

 

[moswen]

i have read that 70% mortality rate in wild caught adults. it's a shame, we take them out of the wild to have them die on us!... that's great to hear that at least one of yours survived, and that she's personable! i'd LOVE to see pictures if you can get them up!