Notes on Raising Baby Tortoises

Things to know about your baby tortoise

Throughout the world people have been keeping turtles and tortoises as pets for hundreds or years, they are one of the worlds favorite pets. But not everyone knows how to keep their tortoise healthy. It's actually pretty easy. Here are some notes to keep in mind.

First, it is important to understand calcium and its correlation to vitamin D. Calcium is a vital building block for the body and serves many functions. It is used in the heart, blood, muscles, and nerves. Beyond that is is a building block for bones and teeth. But calcium is inherently linked to vitamin D in that calcium can't do much without this vitamin present! So where does Vitamin D come from? The Sun. Thats right, the Sun is used by many animals, including tortoises and even humans, to manufacture vitamin D. When their skin is exposed to sunlight, specifically UVB, a chemical reaction occurs that produces vitamin D.

So in the most simplest of terms, you and your tortoises need calcium and access to UVB to complete the calcium absorption process so it is available for the body to use.

Dietary Vitamin D

You can get calcium supplements that have Vitamin D already added to it. The idea is that your tortoises can use the supplemented dietary VitD in place of the UVB manufactured VitD. Albeit, there is much controversy about dietary vitamin D and if it is adequate by itself. The jury is still out whether or not dietary VitD makes access to UVB light unnecessary.

Regardless of your opinion on the issue, tortoises do NEED vitamin D and calcium to live long, healthy, happy lives.

More on Calcium Absorption

There's a significantly important correlation between UVB, vitamin D synthesis, and body temperature. A baby tortoise may have access to UVB but still have problems with calcium absorption because its not at a suitable body temperature for an appropriate period of time. This is where a temperature gradient is important in the cage. If your tortoise's indoor enclosure is too large to hold a proper temperature then it will not matter if you provide UVB, calcium, or dietary VitD. The basking spot temperatures you have may be adequate but baby tortoises don't "bask" a whole lot. They seem to rely on ambient temperatures to thermoregulate more so than lizards or larger tortoises do. This is probably because baby tortoises in the wild basking out in the bright open can easily become a meal for a hungry predator. Try to create an environment where half the entire cage is around 80-90 degrees with a basking spot at 100. Provide a cool half of the cage at around 75-80 degrees. Also - If the weather in your area is less than 75 try to make sure your tortoises are "warmed up" before you take them out to get some natural rays. If the outdoors is less than 70 degrees for more than a few days I'd suggest you get some UVB reptile lights for their indoor enclosure.

The romaine is probably not a great source of nutrition on its own. Dandelions are great but, again, not as an entire diet source. It would be best to feed your tortoises a varied diet including turnip, collard, mustard, prickly pear pads and such. Include dandelion, fresh grasses (very good for sulcatas), and some romaine. Obviously be careful to avoid any food items that may have been treated with pesticides.

Overdoses on Dietary Vitamin D

There is a risk when supplementing dietary vitamin D as it can be dangerous in larger doses. Remember this when supplementing and be mindful to avoid overdosing your tortoise.

Greg Knoell
www.thecoloreddragon.com