Need advice on choosing the right tortoise

Jusloco

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The Woodlands, TX
First of all thank you all so very much for all the great information, I've been reading the forums for some months now, it's been great

Here is the situation:
I live in The Woodlands, Houston, Texas.
I have a big garden with a wooden fence surrounding it.
We'd love to have just one tortoise roaming around the garden.

These are the things to consider:

- Has to be a medium to big species, at least 10 inches
- Omnivore (I breed super worms mealworms and roaches for my lizards)
- Can live in this area (very hot for the majority of the year, only gets cold in winter, rains a lot)
- Does not burrow a lot (don't want it to dig under the wooden fence and escape)
- Is not too colorful (we prefer mostly dull colors instead of bright)

What do y'all experts think could be a good species, with those things in mind?
Thank you in advance!!!
 

Toddrickfl1

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Redfoot would be ideal but they have pretty bright coloring.
 

Jannra

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If you want an omnivore you want a turtle not a tortoise. Tortoises are high fiber diets and almost no protein.
 

Toddrickfl1

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@wellington @Toddrickfl1 Thank y'all for the fast reply. They do sound like the right choice. What do you both think about the Yellow foot tortoise (Brazilian giant tortoise)?
They're a little less outgoing than Redfoots but same basic care.
 

TeamZissou

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Not all yellowfoots are giants. The giants most likely come from a specific region, but I believe it's not super well defined and no breeders that I have seen have specifically offered the "giant" locale of yellowfoots like you see with Sudan sulcatas, specific kinds of Hermanni, Greeks, etc.

Mountain tortoises (manouria) get large and do not burrow. They are a forest tortoise from Myanmar.

If I were you, I would get a Radiated. Then again, I tell that to most people who have the opportunity to buy them.
 

Jusloco

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The Woodlands, TX
I
Not all yellowfoots are giants. The giants most likely come from a specific region, but I believe it's not super well defined and no breeders that I have seen have specifically offered the "giant" locale of yellowfoots like you see with Sudan sulcatas, specific kinds of Hermanni, Greeks, etc.

Mountain tortoises (manouria) get large and do not burrow. They are a forest tortoise from Myanmar.

If I were you, I would get a Radiated. Then again, I tell that to most people who have the opportunity to buy them.
Hahah I'd get a radiated if I had the money man!
I like the size of the Manouria, bigger than the red and yellow foots! I'll look into them, thank you!
 

Jusloco

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The Woodlands, TX
Not all yellowfoots are giants. The giants most likely come from a specific region, but I believe it's not super well defined and no breeders that I have seen have specifically offered the "giant" locale of yellowfoots like you see with Sudan sulcatas, specific kinds of Hermanni, Greeks, etc.

Mountain tortoises (manouria) get large and do not burrow. They are a forest tortoise from Myanmar.

If I were you, I would get a Radiated. Then again, I tell that to most people who have the opportunity to buy them.
I just read the manourias dont tolerate high prolonged temperatures. Is that so? In Houston it can get to 95 F!
 

ZEROPILOT

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I just read the manourias dont tolerate high prolonged temperatures. Is that so? In Houston it can get to 95 F!
At those temperatures youd likely never see a Redfoot or Yellowfoot.
They retreat into the shade if it gets much warmer than 90.
Neither if them are big on grazing weeds or grasses and will need additional food options as well as a clean, shallow water pool
 

TeamZissou

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I just read the manourias dont tolerate high prolonged temperatures. Is that so? In Houston it can get to 95 F!

Not sure. I do not keep them. I read that an upper limit of 90 was recommended on mountaintortoises.com. They would likely be in the shade as ZP said. I believe @tortadise keeps them in the far south of TX in San Benito. I didn't check the temperature averages for Houston to compare.

I'd say you should save up and get what you'd like the most. You're going to have this tort for some time so the up front cost will not be the majority of what you spend on it.
 

Tom

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First of all thank you all so very much for all the great information, I've been reading the forums for some months now, it's been great

Here is the situation:
I live in The Woodlands, Houston, Texas.
I have a big garden with a wooden fence surrounding it.
We'd love to have just one tortoise roaming around the garden.

These are the things to consider:

- Has to be a medium to big species, at least 10 inches
- Omnivore (I breed super worms mealworms and roaches for my lizards)
- Can live in this area (very hot for the majority of the year, only gets cold in winter, rains a lot)
- Does not burrow a lot (don't want it to dig under the wooden fence and escape)
- Is not too colorful (we prefer mostly dull colors instead of bright)

What do y'all experts think could be a good species, with those things in mind?
Thank you in advance!!!
With the above criteria and your temps look into Indotestudo elongata. Super cool tortoises. I'd keep them, but my climate is no good for them. Too dry here. No humidity.

A South African leopard torotise would be great there too, but you'd have to save the insects for your lizards. SA leopards get big, but not too big for one person to carry. They are very adaptable to different climates, thrive on eating mostly grass, and are very personable too.

For any tortoise species, you ought to keep it confined to a large enclosure. Free-roaming the back yard often leads to disaster.
 

Maggie3fan

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I just read the manourias dont tolerate high prolonged temperatures. Is that so? In Houston it can get to 95 F!
Manouria have lousy personalities. All they are is big rocks. I can only say where I would go, and that's a rescue Sulcata. They are easy keepers once they are set up correctly, they will tolerate hot temps and I keep them in snow country. I have had or cared for Sulcata for almost 20 years and I've never had one burrow or even dig. They are seriously outgoing, more fun than any tort, cared for correctly they are smaller than you think. Yes, there are big Sulcata, but the average backyard Sulcata hovers around 100 lbs. The other tortoise I like (I think) are Redfoots. Very good personalities, active, they eat protein and fruit etc. but they are seriously athletic, I have one who I saw climbing a wire fence. He escaped the pen 4 times in 3 hours.
 
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