The Tortoise

There isn’t any species of tortoise which is native to the British Isles, but most of us remember our family or our neighbours having a tortoise when we were young, and most of these tortoises are no longer alive.  In order to provide the best conditions for keeping a tortoise in captivity, one needs to know -- in addition to the complexities of the physiology of the tortoise -- something about the husbandry required to provide conditions in captivity that are as close as possible to the conditions that the tortoise would experience in its native habitat, whether that be tropical, desert, or somewhere in between.

In this section of the website we provide information sheets on caring for the most commonly kept species of tortoise, instructions for hibernating species that would normally hibernate in the wild, a summary of the most common health problems to affect tortoises, suggestions for indoor and outdoor enclosures, how to incubate tortoise eggs, and much more. 

Finally, we give some advice on planning for the future, because if you are successful in providing your tortoise with a good home and the best possible conditions, he will almost certainly outlive you, and will provide much pleasure to whoever keeps him when you can no longer care for him or after you are gone.

The information contained within this web site will continually evolve, so if there is something you think we should include and have not done so, please contact us and let us know what you would like to see.