Horsefield Tortoise….. Testudo Horsefieldii . Its features are,it has a rounded shell (carapace) and its colours can range from dark brown to olive green, sizewise they are a small tortoise with males reaching only about six and a half inches in length were the females grow generally larger and can reach up to eight inches. Horsefeild Tortoises are very long lived and can reach the age of sixty years. As with all tortoise indoor and outdoor habitat are required, with the indoor habitat, it needs to have the correct heating and lighting so please contact us at Appleton Exotics petshop for further infomation, about this. Every two or three weeks your Horsefield Tortoise enclosure should be completly cleaned out and sterilised with a reptile friendly disinfection and any decor should be removed and sterilised ready to go back when the enclosure is cleaned. Your Horsefield Tortoise enclosure should be spot cleaned daily when you change the water. Horsefield Tortoises are a burrowing species so a substrate that allows them to dig down is very good, a mix of fertilizer free top soil and play sand is ideal and should be at least 10cm deep. Make sure that the substrate is kept dry and clean at all times as Horsefield Tortoises are not tolerant to damp conditions and their habitat needs to be checked daily. The Horsefield Tortoise likes to hide in thier habitat enclosure, so its a good idea to place several items in there so that they can do this, items such as plants, rocks, stones, plant pots which are turned onto their sides, but please make sure that the plants are edible and that you dont build up the rocks to high so that your tortoise can knock them over and injure its self. Natural sunlight is very benificial and the outdoor habitat should be place in a sunny area but at the same time make sure that there is a shaded section so your tortoise can have a shaded hideaway if its getting too hot.If you would like to grow some certain plants within the outdoor enclosure for you Horsefield tortoise to graze on whilst outdoors, some good examples are …. brambles, dandelions and chickweed, some examples to avoid are…. daffodils, foxgloves and buttercups , as these are toxic. Your outdoor enclosure may not need as much cleaning as the indoor enclosure but you Tortoise may eat away at the edible plants and dig up soil, if your outdoor enclosure is moveable then it might be an idea to move it to a different section of your garden, to let the old section regrow, but make sure that the new area is pesticide and chemical free with no toxic plants.
