Baby Gopher Tortoise Care
Make sure the tortoise always has access to water for drinking and soaking.
Baby gopher tortoise care. Gopher tortoises have a polygynous mating system in which a single male will mate with multiple females. To care for a tortoise feed the tortoise a diet of leafy greens mixed with other vegetables and sometimes fruit. Mating is from april through november with peaks in august and september. The gopher tortoise is a representative of the.
With this it is important to know that it is known for eating about 1 000 plant species. Estimates for wild tortoises range from 40 60 years while tortoises in captivity can live more than 100 years. However there are certain tips and tricks that pertain specifically to young tortoises that shall be outlined below and in turn should help to ensure a healthy happy life for your pet. We also offer captive bred wood turtles water turtles painted turtles spotted turtles for sale and box turtle for sale including baby box turtles for sale.
The gopher tortoise gopherus polyphemus is a cold blooded reptile that averages 25 cm 10 in long and 4 kg 9 lb in weight they are extremely long lived animals. Next cover the bottom of the container with a combination of earth and sand and provide a shallow bowl of drinking water. Gopher tortoise eggs take 80 to 110 days to hatch and babies are independent from birth they receive no parental care. Every 1 2 weeks soak your tortoise in a bowl of room temperature water for 10 15.
At this time males will visit the burrows of the females in their colonies and make short rasping calls in order to. To take care of a baby tortoise use a large plastic container as a habitat and set up a heat lamp to maintain temperature and humidity. The gopher tortoise can live for 60 years in the wild. In general the care and general requirements for keeping baby tortoise is quite similar to those of adult animals.
Tortoise eating fruit in south west florida. Understanding the diet of a gopher tortoise is a crucial part of pet care. After it survives the hatchling stage 80 of the diet of a gopher tortoise comprises of grass such as st augustine centipede and bahia. If possible create an outdoor enclosure for the tortoise to enjoy good weather in addition to an indoor enclosure in case of bad weather.