Glass?

[EvanScarr]

The How old can a tortoise be to live in a glass enclosure?

Mar what age should it be moved to a non-glass enclosure??

thanks.

 

[KarenSoCal]

A tortoise could live in a glass enclosure all its life without a problem.

The issue is not what the enclosure is made of, it's the size. Ordinary people can't afford to buy glass tanks like the ones in Sea World.

So the tort should be moved when you reach your spending budget limit on giant tanks.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

The How old can a tortoise be to live in a glass enclosure?

Mar what age should it be moved to a non-glass enclosure??

thanks.

It's not really a question of age it's a matter of size and that will depend on the species you get.

 

[franklin444]

Some tortoises will see through the glass and think that there is more space outside of their tank. They can hit their head and that may give them brain damage or a concussion. A solution to this is to fog the glass from the outside or put stickers or paper on the outside of their tank. That way they will not hit their head.

 

[EvanScarr]

I have a Russian. I’d heard that you should never have a tortoise in a glass enclosure for two reasons.

1. It’s disorients them when they look out. By not seeing a solid object, they’ll repeatedly try to walk through it.
2. Larger varieties could break the glass.

 

[Tom]

Some tortoises will see through the glass and think that there is more space outside of their tank. They can hit their head and that may give them brain damage or a concussion. A solution to this is to fog the glass from the outside or put stickers or paper on the outside of their tank. That way they will not hit their head.

Myth. Not true.

 

[Tom]

I have a Russian. I’d heard that you should never have a tortoise in a glass enclosure for two reasons.

1. It’s disorients them when they look out. By not seeing a solid object, they’ll repeatedly try to walk through it.
2. Larger varieties could break the glass.

Number one is a myth. Started by people who buy a wild caught Russian at a pet store and put it in the 40 gallon tank that the pet store sold them. The tortoise goes crazy trying to claw its way out. It is then incorrectly assumed that the see-through glass is the problem. The tortoise will do the same thing if you put it in the same sized wooden tortoise table. The problem is that the WC tortoise isn't accepting captivity, and the enclosure is WAAAAAAAYYYYY too small for an adult of any species.

Number two is impossible. A tortoise that is small enough to fit inside a glass aquarium will not have the strength or weight to break that glass. A bigger aquarium to accommodate a bigger tortoise will have thicker glass, so it wouldn't be possible to break that either. Now if I put a thin walled 10 gallon tank inside the night box of my 80+ pound sulcatas, they would almost certainly break it when they pushed up against it at night. If I custom made a tank large enough to hold an 80 pound sulcata, the glass would be too thick for the tortoise to break it.

 

[KarenSoCal]

I have a Russian. I’d heard that you should never have a tortoise in a glass enclosure for two reasons.

I see that Tom answered already with his wonderfully detailed explanations.

But I want to thank you for questioning me on this! If we can't justify what we say to new keepers, we are no better than the pet store that doesn't have a clue!

I've always believed that understanding why a certain task is done in a particular way accelerates learning how to do it. And enables the learner to more easily figure out how to do it again.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I have a Russian. I’d heard that you should never have a tortoise in a glass enclosure for two reasons.

1. It’s disorients them when they look out. By not seeing a solid object, they’ll repeatedly try to walk through it.
2. Larger varieties could break the glass.

Unless my tortoise is some kind of genius, I can tell you for certain mine recognizes glass and doesn't try to walk thru it.