How do I take care of a tortoise?

At a glance

This guide covers the three species most commonly kept in the US: the Russian tortoise and Hermann's tortoise as the realistic pet picks, and the sulcata as the cautionary tale.

What you're signing up for

Every other pet guide on this site asks whether you can commit for the animal's life. This one asks who takes over when you can't. Russian tortoises live up to 50 years or possibly more, with 20-60 years typical in captivity; Hermann's are capable of living well past 50; sulcatas run 50-80+ years. Across species, 40-100+ years is the honest range. A tortoise bought for a 10-year-old can plausibly attend that child's retirement party.

So succession planning is not a joke line — it is part of responsible ownership. Sanctuaries and rescues recommend naming a guardian for your tortoise in your will, and tortoise estate clauses are real. Before you buy, answer three questions in writing: who inherits the animal, who pays its costs, and does that person actually agree. If you cannot answer them, you are not ready, no matter how nice your enclosure is.

Now the cautionary tale. The sulcata is sold as a $100-$300 hatchling the size of a golf ball. It grows into an animal over 100 pounds — the third-largest tortoise species on Earth after the island giants — that needs a 20-by-30-foot outdoor territory, a heated winter shelter, and fencing sunk into the ground, because sulcatas dig burrows more than 10 feet long and walk through weak fences. Rescues report sulcatas surrendered by adopters who underestimated all of this, and waiting lists nationwide. If you take one thing from this guide: the sulcata is not a beginner animal, despite the beginner price tag. The daily reality for the realistic species is gentler: 15-30 minutes for fresh greens, water, and a temperature check, plus enclosure maintenance. Tortoises tolerate handling but don't enjoy it. They are look-at pets — but engaged ones that patrol, dig, graze, learn feeding routines, and recognize their keepers.

Housing

The pet-store starter kit is the first place tortoise ownership goes wrong. The welfare minimums:

Russian: adults need at least 7 feet by 3.5 feet of floor — 24.5 square feet; juveniles at least 4'x2'. A glass 40-gallon "starter kit" does not come close to this, and stores sell them for tortoises anyway.

Hermann's: minimum 22 square feet of floor. Outdoor pen walls at least 24 inches tall and dug 12 inches into the ground — these animals both dig and climb.

Sulcata: juveniles need at least 8'x4' (32 square feet) indoors. Adults need at least 20'x30' of outdoor space with secure fencing sunk 12 inches underground. This is a yard commitment, not a tank commitment.

Outdoor housing or outdoor time is strongly preferred wherever climate allows — natural sunlight beats any bulb. For Hermann's, outdoor housing works April through October in much of the US. Indoors, a tortoise table (an open-topped wooden enclosure) beats glass.

Heat and light targets by species:

• Russian: basking spot 95°F; cool zone 75-85°F; night 70-75°F. UV Index 3.0-4.0 in the basking area from a T5 HO UVB fixture (Arcadia 12% or ReptiSun 10.0 class). Photoperiod 14 hours in summer, 10 in winter.
• Hermann's: basking 95-105°F; ambient 75-85°F; moderate UVB with the same T5 HO bulb class and photoperiods.
• Sulcata: juveniles bask at 95-105°F with 80-90°F ambient, never below 70°F; adults 85-95°F days with a heated shelter kept above 60°F at night. Sulcatas do not brumate — they are from the Sahel, and a "sleepy" cold sulcata is an emergency, not hibernation.

UVB is non-negotiable for every tortoise. Metabolic bone disease — the shell-and-skeleton disorder covered under Health — is caused by a calcium/phosphorus imbalance from improper diet and lack of adequate ultraviolet light.

Humidity depends on species and age: Russian juveniles 40-75%; Hermann's hatchlings 60-80%, with adults kept mostly dry plus a humid retreat. Dry does not mean desiccated — hatchlings raised bone-dry develop pyramided shells (see Health).

Feeding

Tortoises are grazers, not fruit eaters. The core principle: high-fiber, low-protein, calcium-rich weeds and grasses — leafy greens, grasses, and edible weeds rather than produce-aisle vegetables, which carry excessive protein and sugar for a tortoise's system.

• Russian: broadleaf weeds and greens; fruit only as very rare treats; limit spinach, chard, kale, broccoli, and other greens heavy in goitrogens and oxalates (compounds that interfere with the thyroid and bind calcium).
• Hermann's: leaves, grasses, occasional flowers; fruit and vegetables no more than once a week.
• Sulcata: grass and hay are the staple — Bermuda, orchard, timothy — plus edible weeds and flowers such as hibiscus, clover, and dandelion. No fruit, no animal protein, no spinach or kale.

Supplements (sulcata schedule from The Animal Foundation, sensible across species): calcium with D3 twice a week, multivitamin once a week. Water: a shallow soaking dish available at all times, and soak juveniles about twice a week for 10-15 minutes — hatchlings dehydrate faster than their desert reputation suggests.

Never feed: dog food, monkey biscuits, or high-protein anything — protein excess is implicated in shell deformity; fruit as a staple; iceberg lettuce as the diet (it drives vitamin A deficiency); spinach and kale in quantity.

Health

Pyramiding. Raised, stacked scutes — the individual plates of the shell — growing into little peaks. It is a raising-conditions problem, not genetics. The peer-reviewed anchor is Wiesner & Iben 2003: in sulcata hatchlings, environmental humidity and dietary protein drove pyramidal growth — dry-reared hatchlings pyramided, humid-reared ones didn't. VCA attributes pyramiding to suboptimal temperatures, humidity, or nutritional imbalances in young animals. It is permanent, but it stops progressing once husbandry is fixed.

Metabolic bone disease. A misshapen or flimsy shell in an animal past 6 months old, deformed legs, stunted growth. Cause: poor diet plus inadequate UVB. Prevention is the diet and lighting sections above, done consistently.

Respiratory infections. Caused by Mycoplasma, herpesvirus or ranavirus, or secondary to vitamin A deficiency. Early signs: excess mucus in the mouth (bubbles at the mouth, nose, and eyes), nasal discharge, lethargy, appetite loss. Fix this in your head now: a runny nose in a tortoise is a vet visit, not a cold.

Vitamin A deficiency. The iceberg-lettuce disease: swollen eyelids with discharge, ear abscesses, respiratory disease.

Also on the vet list: shell rot (bacterial or fungal), abscesses, cloacoliths (urate stones — an emergency), and roundworms and protozoa that turn up on fecal exams — worth screening for, since many US pet Russians were wild-caught.

Early-warning checklist: appetite loss, unusual lethargy, a bubbly nose, a soft shell in an animal over 6 months, swollen eyes, straining without droppings.

Go to a vet today if: bubbles or mucus at the nose or mouth; a soft or flimsy shell past 6 months of age; swollen or sealed eyes; straining with no droppings (possible urate stone); any open shell wound or spreading shell lesion; a cold, sluggish sulcata in winter.

What it really costs

The sticker price is the smallest number in the budget. A Russian or Hermann's hatchling runs $50-$150 (Hermann's sometimes a little higher); a sulcata hatchling $100-$300, with large adult sulcatas selling for several hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Setup: the enclosure and lighting cost more than the tortoise — often several hundred dollars for a proper indoor build: a large enclosure or tortoise table, T5 HO UVB fixture, basking lamp, thermostat, and substrate. Ongoing: roughly $20-$60 a month in greens, hay, and supplies, plus routine exotic-vet visits at $50-$150.

Lifetime: thousands of dollars, higher for a large tortoise. Sulcata owners add the hidden lines: a heated night shelter and its winter heating bills, reinforced fencing sunk into the ground, replacing whatever landscaping the animal bulldozes, and eventually transporting a 100-pound animal to an exotic vet.

Daily and weekly routine

Daily - Fresh greens or grass/hay appropriate to species; remove yesterday's leftovers - Refill and clean the shallow water/soaking dish - Check basking and cool-zone temperatures - Head-to-tail glance: eyes, nose, shell, activity, appetite

Weekly - Soak juveniles about twice weekly, 10-15 minutes each - Supplement schedule: calcium with D3 2x/week, multivitamin 1x/week - Spot-clean substrate; walk the outdoor pen fence line for digging - Weigh or photograph monthly-growth candidates (hatchlings change fast)

Monthly - Deep-clean enclosure and water dishes - Log UVB bulb age; check thermostat and photoperiod timer settings (14 h summer / 10 h winter for Testudo species) - Seasonal check: heated shelter working before winter (sulcata); outdoor season planning (Hermann's, April-October in much of the US)

Common mistakes

1. Buying a $100 sulcata hatchling because "it's so small." Do the 100-pound, 80-year math first — skipping it is the number-one reason rescues are full.
2. A glass aquarium far below the floor minimums. Adults need 22-24.5 square feet minimum; a 40-gallon tank isn't in the conversation. Build or buy a tortoise table, or house outdoors.
3. A fruit-and-lettuce diet. It causes diarrhea, vitamin A deficiency, and MBD. Feed weeds, grasses, and calcium-rich greens instead.
4. No UVB, or a dead 2-year-old bulb. UVB output fades long before the light does. Replace on schedule or the result is MBD.
5. Raising hatchlings bone-dry. Dry rearing pyramids shells permanently. Give hatchlings the species-appropriate humidity and a humid retreat.
6. Treating a sulcata like a Russian in winter. Sulcatas do not brumate. A cold, sleepy sulcata is an emergency; heat the shelter.
7. Underestimating digging. Pens without barriers dug 12 inches down lose tortoises. Bury the barrier before the escape, not after.
8. No succession plan. For an animal that may live 80 years, name a guardian in your will and confirm they agree.

Is this pet right for you?

A good fit if... - You want a calm, watchable, decades-long project and can commit floor space or yard to it - You are a committed adult choosing a Russian or Hermann's, with an exotic vet lined up - You have (or will make) outdoor space for natural sun in the warm months - You have named — and confirmed — who inherits the animal

Think twice if... - You want a pet to cuddle; tortoises tolerate handling but don't enjoy it - You are drawn to the sulcata's price without the yard, the heated shelter, or the 80-year plan - Renting or moving often — rehoming a tortoise setup is hard, and rehoming a sulcata is harder - The idea of writing a pet into your will sounds absurd to you — with this animal, it isn't

Worth knowing

Tortoises beat astronauts to the Moon. The first Earthlings to circle the Moon were two steppe (Russian) tortoises aboard the Soviet Zond 5 mission in September 1968 — three months before Apollo 8 — and they came home alive, having lost about 10% of their body weight.

Wild Russians sleep most of the year. They may be awake only about 3 months annually, brumating through winter and aestivating (a summer dormancy) through extreme heat. Captive brumation is optional and should only be attempted with a healthy, vet-checked animal at controlled cool temperatures.

Sulcata burrows are infrastructure. They dig burrows more than 10 feet long; in the Sahel, other species shelter in them.

The shell is the spine. The carapace is fused ribs and vertebrae with a nerve supply. Shell rot and burns hurt, and a tortoise can feel you touch its shell.

The pyramiding U-turn. Deformed shells were long blamed on protein alone; the 2003 Wiesner & Iben experiment showed dry air is a major driver — a husbandry reversal now reflected in vet guidance.

Your tortoise may be older than you. Many US pet Russian tortoises were wild-caught as adults, so the animal's true age on arrival is unknown — and possibly greater than yours.

A golf ball becomes a boulder. A sulcata hatchling fits in your palm; the adult passes 100 pounds and weighs more than most dogs.

Estate clauses are standard advice. Sanctuaries recommend naming a tortoise guardian in your will precisely because 40-80+ year lifespans are common.

What you'll need

• tortoise table or large indoor enclosure (22+ sq ft floor for adults) — glass starter tanks fall far below welfare minimums
• T5 HO UVB fixture and bulb (Arcadia 12% / ReptiSun 10.0 class) — UVB prevents metabolic bone disease; non-negotiable
• basking heat lamp and dome fixture — species-correct basking spot (95-105°F depending on species)
• thermostat — holds the gradient and prevents overheating
• digital thermometer and hygrometer — daily verification of temperatures and humidity
• light timer — enforces 14 h summer / 10 h winter photoperiods
• substrate suitable for digging — tortoises dig; the floor must allow it
• humid hide or retreat — prevents pyramiding in hatchlings and dry-climate species stress
• shallow water and soaking dish — constant access plus juvenile soaks twice weekly
• calcium with D3 powder — supplement 2x/week per vet-aligned schedules
• reptile multivitamin powder — weekly supplement
• outdoor pen fencing, 24" tall and buried 12" — tortoises dig under and climb over anything less
• heated night shelter (sulcata) — Sahel species must never chill; below-60°F nights are dangerous
• fresh leafy greens, grasses, and edible weeds — daily staple diet — grow or buy at the grocery, not from us (buy this where you already shop — we don't sell it, on purpose)
• grass hay: timothy, Bermuda, orchard — sulcata staple — buy at the feed store, not from us (buy this where you already shop — we don't sell it, on purpose)

Browse the store for the gear above.

Sources