I've been a forum lurker for the past few weeks, so I thought I might as well say hello! We do not have a tortoise yet.
The original interest was in sulcatas. They just seemed to have a lot going for them. Like being hardy, big, very common, somewhat social (for a tortoise), and had a really simple diet. The downside is they are burrowers. Living between lake Okeechobee and the Everglades means during the summer rainy season any deeper than maybe 18-24" there will be standing water in a burrow and it could easily collapse regardless of how deep it went. We do have gopher tortoises that burrow here but they native to South FL and better suited for the area. Due to the risk, I'd rather not go with a burrowing tortoise species.
That led me to leopard tortoises. They are pretty similar in husbandry and diet. They also don't really burrow, get relatively large and look nice but seem more susceptible to respiratory problems in cool damp conditions. Maybe the respiratory infection risk is minor but again I'm not sure the two tortoises mentioned from the plains of Africa are ideal for the South Florida environment.
Which led me to the obvious choice of red and yellow foot tortoises. They seem about as good as a non-native tortoise species can get is for the conditions I can offer. Their diet is more diverse than leopards and sulcatas but I have no shortage of chemical free weeds a good size mulberry tree and spineless prickly pear. Plus they look really good!
I plan to aquire a redfoot tortoise in late April. I'll post some pics of the enclosure once it's finished. The outdoor enclosure will be somewhere in the 32' x 10' size.
Thank you all for the wealth of knowledge on the forum!
Mike
The original interest was in sulcatas. They just seemed to have a lot going for them. Like being hardy, big, very common, somewhat social (for a tortoise), and had a really simple diet. The downside is they are burrowers. Living between lake Okeechobee and the Everglades means during the summer rainy season any deeper than maybe 18-24" there will be standing water in a burrow and it could easily collapse regardless of how deep it went. We do have gopher tortoises that burrow here but they native to South FL and better suited for the area. Due to the risk, I'd rather not go with a burrowing tortoise species.
That led me to leopard tortoises. They are pretty similar in husbandry and diet. They also don't really burrow, get relatively large and look nice but seem more susceptible to respiratory problems in cool damp conditions. Maybe the respiratory infection risk is minor but again I'm not sure the two tortoises mentioned from the plains of Africa are ideal for the South Florida environment.
Which led me to the obvious choice of red and yellow foot tortoises. They seem about as good as a non-native tortoise species can get is for the conditions I can offer. Their diet is more diverse than leopards and sulcatas but I have no shortage of chemical free weeds a good size mulberry tree and spineless prickly pear. Plus they look really good!
I plan to aquire a redfoot tortoise in late April. I'll post some pics of the enclosure once it's finished. The outdoor enclosure will be somewhere in the 32' x 10' size.
Thank you all for the wealth of knowledge on the forum!
Mike
