Small tortoises?

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Hi,

Im wondering if there are any easy to care for small tortoises that stay under 4 inches wide? I dont know much about tortoises, im totally snakes, geckos and monitors. So anyways, if there are tortoises thats stay under 4 inches wide, thats great, if its like 2-3 inches even better. It must be easy to take care of and not require too much space. Thanks.

Chris

[Bartman]

Im pretty sure red foots stay four inches wide because they are a more narrow tortoise. If you want a tortoise that stays small look for russians and egyptions. Although i believe that i heard someone post that egyptions are not easy to find. I have a russian tort and they are known to stay relitively small. They'll grow to be about 8 - 10 inches long. good luck with your search

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Thanks.

I mean general all around diametre. Im looking for like a little 4"x4"x4" box. Well tortoise but around that big. Thanks.

Chris

[sapphire_moon]

I don't think there is one you can legally keep that is that small, and if there is, you are going to pay TONS of money for it. Greeks stay pretty small, and so do leopard torts.

[Wu-Gwei]

No... Leopards torts get HUGE over 12-15" SCL and 15Kg when they are full grown! Egyptians are the smallest, but you can keep on dreaming.

Relatively small torts are Hermann's & Greeks, but they are much bigger than 4"SCL (Straight carapace length), but they get around 8"SCL. You can always consider box turtles, which are terrestrial turtles and they stay small at around 6" SCL.

In my opinion, land turtles and tortoises are harder to care for than aquatic turtles. They need fresh supply of veggies or grasses and that may be tough to do in winter. Bottom line, any tort will need an enclosure larger than a 100 gallon tank.


Cheers,
JJ

[Turtle Matt]

Russian tortoises also only reach 8" maximum...Red foots get alot wider than 4" too... I knew a guy that had some egyptians once...Very neat but like Wu-Gwei said,keep dreaming..
Matt

[zhiv9]

In my opinion none of the tortoises are easy to care for, especially indoors. All of them get bigger than 4" even the egyptions are more like 5". I have cared for a variety of "exotic" pets and have found trying to raise a smooth shelled sulcata and redfoot indoors, even with variety of diets to be a difficult if not a nearly impossible task with the current body of knowledge. I certainly wouldn't recommend them as beginner pet thought they truly are wonderful animals. Perhaps one of the smaller aquatic species would be hardier and more what you are looking for.

Hope this helps

[Linds]

Originally posted by Bartman
Im pretty sure red foots stay four inches wide because they are a more narrow tortoise.

No healthy Redfoot will be even close to that small. They may not be as round as other torties, but they definitely aren't that narrow. You can expect an adult to be *at least* 9-10 inches wide.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

How about box turtles, i have heard that some species can get to 6inches, ocasisonally smaller, when full grown. Thanks.

Chris

[ReptileHQ]

The southern speckled padloper(Homopus signatus cafer) is the smallest tortoise is the world, but you'd probably have a better chance in finding a live dodo bird LOL. Only a handful of these exist in collections...

Chris

[Bighead]

I have a dodo for sale or trade for a hatchling jackelope.

[red bootz]

How about a spider tortoise (Pyxis Arachnoides ssp). They are small colorful tortoises or something from the Psammobates group? Oh wait, we're in Canada.