Non - Hibernating Tortoises

Tortoises that don't hibernate will be with you all year round. In the summer they will like spending as much time as possible under the sun in your garden, but during the winter you will need to provide them with heat and artificial sunlight in the form of a bulb which will provide them with UVB and a place to bask under. A normal bulb or any bulb without UVB is not be suitable.

There are several species of tortoise that don't hibernate:

Sulcata, Leopard, Redfoot and Indian Stars.

Here is some information on each of the different species:

Sulcata Tortoise

Sulcatas are the third largest tortoise in the world, growing approximately 2 inches a year, reaching lengths of up to 85cm, and weighing up to 240lbs! In the wild they can be found in sub-Saharan central Africa.

Leopard Tortoise

Leopard tortoises are the fourth largest tortoise in the world and can reach lengths of 50cm and weigh up to 60lbs. In the wild they can be found throughout South Africa.

Indian Star Tortoise

Indian Star tortoises are from the Indian subcontinent (including Sri Lanka). Males can grow up to 20cm and females up to 30cm. Whilst there are no recognised subspecies as yet, there are three seperate 'variants' of Indian Stars and in the future they are likely to be classified as subspecies. Northern tortoises are dark and large, Southern tortoises are smaller with a more intense pattern and Sri Lankan tortoises have more yellow colouring in their lines, an intense pattern like the Southern tortoises but are larger like the Northern variant.

All three of these species of tortoise will love to graze on your lawn and need a diet rich in green fibrous foodstuffs such as course mixed grasses (a big proportion of their diet), lettuce, kale, cabbage, cucumber, and weeds such as dandelion leaves and flowers, which all tortoises particularly love and benefit from. *They will need nice area of lawn to munch on as grass forms the majority of their diet.*

Redfoot Tortoise

Male redfoot tortoises can reach lengths of 35cm with females being smaller and reaching up to 28cm. There is also a smaller variant of redfoot called a 'cherryhead tortoise' which has a red face and grows up to 25-30cm. In the wild they can live in various habitats from grassland to rainforest, and are from South America. They are an omnivorous tortoise and have a different diet to any of the other tortoises we sell. They need a mixture of leafy greens with a high fruit content and NO MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK they need low fat animal protein. This can be in the form of a weight management cat food, approx 25g of cat food per adult (9/10 kilo) adult redfoot. They will not enjoy fruits with a high citrus content (like oranges) but do enjoy fruits like strawberries, plums, peaches and pineapple.

Redfoots need a more humid environment than our other species of tortoise and this can be achieved by keeping them on a substrate of orchid bark and misting the area with water once a day.

None of these tortoises hibernate, and will need to be heated over the winter months in your home or a suitable greenhouse or shed.