How do I keep my tortoise healthy?

Which tortoise do I have, and why does it matter?

The species decides the food, the humidity and whether hibernation is safe, so care written for one species can harm another. Ask your vet to confirm the species if you aren't sure.

• Jabutis: INPA describes the red-footed tortoise as an omnivore of open grassy areas and forests that eats fruit, flowers, mushrooms, seeds, insects and carrion, and the yellow-footed as a forest tortoise that doesn't enter open areas. Tropical tortoises don't hibernate, as PetMD's vet-written care sheet puts it.
• Mediterranean tortoises: in Vet Times, exotics vets describe Hermann's, spur-thighed and Russian tortoises as eaters of weeds and flowers, and warn that mixing spur-thighed tortoises with other species, or even other subspecies, is likely to cause disease.
• Sulcatas: Yarmouth Veterinary Center calls them strict grazing herbivores that reach 60 to 90 cm and 36 to 68 kg, so few homes can keep an adult indoors. The Tortoise Trust lists them among the tortoises that must never hibernate.

What should I know about tortoises at a glance?

Tortoises live for decades. Ibama reminds Brazilians that some species live over 50 years and pass to the next generation of the family.

What health problems do vets see most in tortoises?

Most tortoise problems start with the setup or the food, so the first thing a reptile vet asks about is the enclosure, the light and the diet. Tortoises hide illness, and VCA notes that the early signs are often vague: not eating and lethargy.

• Runny nose (upper respiratory tract disease): a nose or eye discharge, bubbles, mucus in the mouth or wheezing. VCA names Mycoplasma and herpesvirus as the usual causes, and says tortoises with herpesvirus often don't recover. The Merck Veterinary Manual adds that Mycoplasma disease is often chronic or comes and goes. Treat a runny nose as serious, keep the tortoise apart from others and see a vet.
• Metabolic bone disease: a soft or misshapen shell and bent legs, from too little calcium, too little UVB or too little warmth. VCA calls a soft shell a sign of disease.
• Pyramiding: each shell scute grows into a raised bump. VCA says it is common in young tortoises kept at the wrong temperature and humidity, and also links it to an imbalance of calcium, phosphorus or protein in the diet. In a 2003 study of sulcata hatchlings, dry air raised much taller bumps, while extra protein had only a small effect. Fast growth and too little UVB are also blamed, and your vet will look at the whole setup.
• Worms and other gut parasites: roundworms and flagellate protozoa are common in pet tortoises, according to VCA, and are found with a fecal exam.
• Dehydration: sunken eyes and loose skin. The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that tortoises may take in water through the vent while bathing, which is why soaks help, and that a badly dehydrated tortoise may need fluids from a vet.
• Egg retention: a female that can't lay. Exotics vets in Vet Times link it to no place to dig a nest, too little heat and low calcium. Eggs can stay inside for weeks or months.
• Not eating after hibernation: common in Mediterranean tortoises, and exotics vets in Vet Times check how the hibernation went as well as the setup.
• Shell injuries: dog bites, crushing, lawnmowers, and rats gnawing a tortoise hibernating in an open box, as Vet Times lists. Shell wounds from dog bites get infected fast.

Do tortoises need vaccines or deworming?

No vaccine exists for any tortoise. What they need instead is a yearly vet check with a fecal exam. VCA advises a first visit within a week of bringing a tortoise home, then at least one a year, with a fecal test at every exam.

• Deworm after a test, not on a calendar. Low numbers of gut parasites are normal in a tortoise, as Vet Times notes, so vets treat when a fecal exam shows a problem.
• Never give ivermectin to a tortoise. The Merck Veterinary Manual's table of reptile parasiticides says it should not be used in tortoises and turtles. Use only what your vet prescribes.
• Quarantine new tortoises. Keep a new tortoise apart until your vet has examined it and checked its feces. Runny nose is common where tortoises have been mixed, according to Vet Times.
• Salmonella: tortoises can carry Salmonella without being sick. The CDC advises washing your hands after touching a reptile, its food or anything in its enclosure, keeping reptiles and their things out of the kitchen, and keeping children under 5 from touching them. It also says reptiles aren't recommended for homes with children under 5, adults 65 and older or people with weakened immune systems.

Which signs in a tortoise can't wait?

Tortoises hide illness, so by the time one looks sick the problem is often advanced. Find a reptile vet before you need one.

• Open-mouth breathing or bubbles from the nose: call your vet now.
• A shell injury: shell wounds from dog bites get infected fast. See a vet the same day.
• Something sticking out of the vent: call your vet now.
• A female straining, digging again and again without laying, or restless and not eating: "A female straining or restless without laying needs a vet."
• A runny nose, swollen or closed eyes, or a soft shell: see a reptile vet soon. Don't wait for it to pass.
• Not eating, drinking or peeing within a week of waking from hibernation: the Tortoise Trust says every tortoise should eat within one week of waking. If yours hasn't, or isn't drinking or peeing, see a reptile vet.
• A hibernating tortoise that has peed in its box, or keeps losing weight: the Tortoise Trust says to wake it, rehydrate it and keep it awake for the rest of the winter. Call your vet.

How do I care for a tortoise day to day?

Light, heat and the right humidity come first, because a tortoise can only digest, use calcium and fight infection when it is warm enough and gets UVB.

• Sun and UVB: direct sun outdoors is best. Most glass and polycarbonate block UV light, as Vet Times warns, so sun through a window is no substitute. Indoors, use a UVB lamp over the enclosure. VCA says to replace it every 6 months. UVB fades long before the lamp stops lighting.
• Heat for jabutis: Yarmouth Veterinary Center's red-footed care sheet gives a basking spot of 32 to 35 °C, 24 to 29 °C in the rest of the enclosure by day and no lower than 18 °C at night. PetMD's tropical tortoise sheet keeps nights above 21 °C. Ask your vet which fits your home.
• Humidity for jabutis: 60 to 80% in Yarmouth Veterinary Center's sheet, with a humid hide, and 70 to 90% in PetMD's. Misting and damp substrate keep it up, and young jabutis need it most.
• Heat and air for Mediterranean tortoises: most do best between 20 and 30 °C, according to Vet Times. PetMD suggests a warm end of 29 to 35 °C indoors and humidity under 60% for Greek and Russian tortoises.
• Space: at least 2.4 by 1.2 m indoors for an adult red-footed tortoise and a secure outdoor pen of 3 by 3 m or more, in Yarmouth Veterinary Center's sheet. Outdoor fences must go into the ground, because tortoises dig, and dogs must not reach them.
• Food for jabutis: mostly dark leafy greens, leaves and flowers, with some fruit and a little animal protein. Yarmouth Veterinary Center suggests 70 to 80% greens, 10 to 20% fruit and 5 to 10% protein such as mushrooms, every day for young ones and every other day for adults. Never dog or cat food.
• Food for Mediterranean and sulcata tortoises: weeds like dandelion, sow thistle, plantain and clover, edible flowers, and grass and hay for sulcatas. Vet Times keeps fruit under 5% of the diet and leaves out animal protein, and says salad greens are a poor substitute for weeds.
• Calcium: sources differ. Yarmouth Veterinary Center's red-footed tortoise sheet dusts food with calcium with vitamin D3 2 to 3 times a week, while PetMD's sheet for Greek and Russian tortoises uses calcium without D3, daily for young tortoises and every other day for adults. Ask your vet, who will consider how much sun or UVB your tortoise gets.
• Water and soaks: a shallow water dish every day, and lukewarm soaks of 15 to 20 minutes 2 to 3 times a week for young tortoises, in Yarmouth Veterinary Center's sheet. For small tortoises, keep the water no deeper than the bottom edge of the shell. VCA warns never to let it rise above the head.
• Weight: weigh in grams every month on a kitchen scale. Weight loss is often the first sign that something is wrong.
• Beak and nails: when they overgrow, a vet trims them. VCA notes that nails may need clipping from time to time.

Is hibernation safe for my tortoise?

Only for a species that hibernates, and only when it is healthy and a vet has checked it. Jabutis and sulcatas must never hibernate. A Hermann's, spur-thighed or Russian tortoise may. Vets and keepers disagree on whether a healthy adult should hibernate every year. The Tortoise Trust says that if in doubt, keep it awake over winter with light and heat. The BVA, BSAVA and BVZS advise against hibernating very young tortoises and any with health problems.

• Before: take your tortoise to a vet for a check-up with a fecal exam, as exotics vets advise in Vet Times, and weigh it, as the BVA, BSAVA and BVZS advise. Never hibernate a sick or underweight tortoise.
• Emptying the gut: the Tortoise Trust stops food about 2 weeks before for a tortoise under 1 kg, 3 weeks for 1 to 1.5 kg and a month for 2 to 3 kg, keeping it warm and soaking it so it stays hydrated. Ask your vet for your tortoise's timing.
• Temperature: 5 to 8 °C in the BVA, BSAVA and BVZS advice, and as close to 5 °C as possible for the Tortoise Trust, which warns that even a short time at 0 °C can be fatal. A fridge used only for this, with a thermometer, keeps it stable and safe from rats. The Tortoise Trust says to avoid fridges that include a freezer section.
• Weight during it: weigh every week. The BVA, BSAVA and BVZS keep total loss under 5% of the starting weight, and the Tortoise Trust ends hibernation if more than 1% is lost in a month. Agree the limit with your vet before you start.
• How long: up to about 3 months for adults in the BVA, BSAVA and BVZS advice, which also says a young tortoise shouldn't hibernate before its second, third or fourth winter, and then only for about 6 weeks. The Tortoise Trust gives a minimum of 8 to 10 weeks for small tortoises and no more than 16 weeks even for very large ones. Agree the length with your vet.
• After: warm it up over about an hour, then move it to a warm, bright place around 25 °C and offer water every day, because drinking matters more than eating at first, as the Tortoise Trust advises. It should eat within a week.

Some vets also compare weight with shell length. The Jackson ratio, from a 1980 study of Hermann's and spur-thighed tortoises, divides the weight in grams by the cube of the straight shell length in centimetres. The Tortoise Trust warns it gives wrong results for Russian and marginated tortoises, and a 2024 study found it can mislead on its own, so ask your vet to combine it with a hands-on body condition check.

A jabuti that goes quiet and stops eating in a cold southern Brazilian winter is not hibernating. It is too cold, and cold is a common cause of respiratory infection, as Yarmouth Veterinary Center notes. Warm it up, and see a vet if it still won't eat.

Is it legal to keep a tortoise?

It depends on the species and the country, and many tortoises need papers. Never take a tortoise from the wild, never release one, and keep its papers for life.

• Brazil: jabutis are native wild animals. Ibama says to buy only from a breeder or shop authorized in SisFauna (Gefau in São Paulo), get the certificate of origin, and check that the animal's ring or microchip matches the documents. Paraná's state agency, IAT, calls the invoice (nota fiscal), the certificate of origin and the marking indispensable.
• Brazil, a family jabuti without papers: talk to your state environmental agency. Paraná's agency, IAT, says handing over an animal voluntarily brings no punishment. Under CONAMA Resolution 457/2013, an animal handed over goes to the agency, which decides case by case where it can go, and the provisional guard terms in that resolution are for people who did not keep the animal before. Ask your state agency what applies to your jabuti.
• Brazil, eggs and babies: Ibama asks owners not to breed their animals, because the young will have no legal papers.
• European Union: all European tortoises (Hermann's, spur-thighed and marginated) are on Annex A of EU Regulation 338/97, as Stadt Köln explains, so selling one needs an EU certificate, often called an Article 10 certificate. In Germany each tortoise must also be reported to the local nature authority, and it is usually identified by photos.
• United Kingdom: selling an Annex A tortoise needs an Article 10 certificate from APHA, and the seller must show it to the buyer. Doing it without one can mean up to 5 years in prison or an unlimited fine, according to GOV.UK. The Tortoise Protection Group notes that keeping one, or giving one away, needs no licence. A gift that involves any exchange or benefit, even a charitable donation, does need a certificate, according to GOV.UK.
• Japan: tortoise species designated as international rare species can be sold or handed over only after registration, as the Ministry of the Environment explains. Its leaflet adds that a registered tortoise changes hands together with its registration card, and that the new owner must report it within 30 days. Ask the seller whether yours is one and for its registration card.
• Everywhere else: check the rules where you live before you buy.

How do I keep my tortoise's health record?

VetVitae, a pet health record app, keeps your tortoise's weight in grams and warns you when a weigh-in is 10% below the highest of the 3 months before it. It keeps the enclosure setup with the UVB lamp and the date it went in, and reminds you when the lamp is due for a change.

It also logs soaks, eggs, fecal exams and vet visits. See reptile records, routines and exams and tests. VetVitae is free on iPhone, Android and the web.

This guide is general information, not veterinary advice. Your vet knows your pet.

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