Home Critter Care Index Page Choosing Healthy Baby Tortoises (you are here)

To determine healthy tortoise babies always look for:

• Good shell growth
  
  • Never buy a baby tortoise that does not show good growth lines. Tortoises require special bacteria to be preset in their digestive tract to enable them to properly digest and abosrb food. Without these bacteria the tortoises will eat but not grow or thrive. These growth lines are an indication that the baby has this good bacteria established in its system.
    
• Good body weight, good appetite
  
  • Tortoises that are not healthy will not gain weight normally. This also shows up as lack of appetite. Healthy babies eat like "little pigs".
    
• Alertness
  
  • Baby tortoises do sleep a lot. However when they are awake they should be alert and active. When we house our babies inside it is quite comical to see them all come to the edge of the enclosure when we walk in.
    
• Clear eyes
  
  • Unhealthy tortoises will not have clear, open eyes. Eyes that do not look clear or if they cannot open one or both are signs of trouble. Note that tropical tortoises such as the Red-foot and Yellow-foot tortoises normally have 'weepy' eyes that do not appear dry as in desert species.
    
• Unobstructed nostrils
  
  • Obstructed nostrils are signs of respiratory tract infection. Examine the baby to be sure both nostrils are clear and dry. Babies with obstructed or runny nostrils require special care including constant warmth and possibly antibiotics. Avoid purchasing babies with this problem.
    

(39K) 528 x 248	Growth Lines Tortoises grow by adding to the edges of the plates of their shell. This can be seen as ridges between the plates. Note the light patches in the growth lines on these South African Leopard Tortoises (one is circled in red). These alternating light and dark patches are what creates the spotted shell pattern that gives these tortoises their name. (Click the image to see an enlarged view which will open in a new window.)
(80K) 442 x 439	Skin Speckling One of the typical attributes of South African Leopard Tortoises is speckling of the skin. It varies from baby to baby and is often not readily apparent in adults. This baby is heavily speckled. (Click the image to see an enlarged view which will open in a new window.)
(96K) 432 x 343	Twin Spots Another of the typical attributes of South African Leopard Tortoise (Geochelone pardalis pardalis) is twin spots on the plates. The more common Leopard Tortoise (Geochelone pardalis babcocki) will have only one spot per plate while Geochelone pardalis pardalis will commonly have two. The spots vary from baby to baby even within the same clutch. Not having two spot plates does not mean the baby is not Geochelone pardalis pardalis but having two spot plates does indicate that the baby is in fact Geochelone pardalis pardalis. Due to growth and wear this pattern will not be visible after a couple years. Twin spot patterns command a higher price with some breeders charging 2 - 3 times as much for a pattern such as this one. (Click the image to see an enlarged view which will open in a new window.)

This page last updated October 28, 2002

Home Critter Care Index Page Choosing Healthy Baby Tortoises (you are here)