Garden Tortoises

14/04/2025

🐢🐢 Easter is fast approaching, but our torts are busy preparing a different kind of egg 🥚 🐢

10/04/2025

🐢🐢 Hello all, we’re on a little Easter break away, today we visited The British Ironwork Centre and found these fabulous statutes of Giant tortoises, thought you all might like to see them too! Aside from tortoises there are many, many other amazing statutes to see here, well recommend a visit if you’re in Shropshire!

05/04/2025

🐢🐢 A great idea for new owners and existing alike to make sure your torts have the best care 🐢🐢

A completely new course designed for those new to keeping tortoises (this particular course does not include aquatic turtle care). All of the

29/03/2025

🐢🐢 Hello everyone, we hope you and your torts are all enjoying the upturn in sunny weather we’ve been having, ours apparently are, we had an unexpected discovery today - 4 horsefield eggs 🥚 Last year the first eggs didn’t appear until Mid April, but the incubator is now on which means the 2025 season has officially begun! Exciting times 🐢🐢

05/03/2025

🐢🐢 hello again, a quick guide of things to check on your tortoise when they emerge from brumation (hibernation) 🐢🐢

https://www.tortoisetrust.com/post/common-post-hibernation-problems-in-tortoises?fbclid=IwY2xjawI1FJFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZWQHneOkrWsFgXIjWJZx5dzjweJCPXyFtJmmlAbOlahAL4Rz7Nne0PsRg_aem_CLtFTmNfhPRBsth4hsACXQ

Tortoises which emerge from hibernation (technically it is more correct to use the term 'brumation', through for the sake of familiarity and brevity we use both terms here) with health problems are in serious - and immediate - danger. For a variety of biological reasons, tortoises are at their most....

05/03/2025

🐢🐢Hello sunshine! 🌞 your tortoises are likely waking up (if not already awake) with this lovely turn in the weather! A good time to share a couple useful articles, first- myths about warming tortoises too quickly. Post hibernating problems to look out for, to follow 🐢🐢

https://www.tortoisetrust.com/post/warming-up-after-brumation-hibernation?fbclid=IwY2xjawI1E8xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTwT1suRr1U_xdQ96tAKLqTYsJFXqkQLhsaJ2RhGd1MGlUH3vxJzvSTc9w_aem_e6qtT28wra2TzWjSt9QTrg

The Tortoise Myth Busters - Episode 8Warming After Brumation HibernationAs usual, let's start by looking at some of the (very confident!) misleading advice seen on this subject: • "If you warm a tortoise up too fast it will die from the shock" • "Never take a tortoise from a cold area and warm i...

08/12/2024

An interesting quick watch about tortoise hibernation cues. I have certain tortoises that go into hibernation before the others. I think it’s important to allow them to follow their instincts rather than fit into my timings. 🐢🐢

The precise combination of 'triggers' that tell Mediterranean tortoises it is time to dig down for brumation (hibernation) over winter are far from obvious. ...

18/11/2024

🐢🐢 Now is the time your torts will be thinking about hibernating (if not already) bear in mind a lot of hibernation guides are taylored to adult torts - see below a useful guide specifically for juveniles.

Juveniles and adults live in the same locations, in the same habitat, and experience exactly the same environmental conditions. They therefore both. brumate when winter temperatures fall to a certain level. The brumation (hibernation) of juvenile Mediterranean tortoises is a much-vexed issue and cau...

11/10/2024

🐢🐢 Hello, the 2 main breeds we have are both Mediterranean; Hermann and Marginated. Linked below are some breed specific care sheets that might help you decide between them🐢🐢

Hermann
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/files/Hermanns%20care%20sheet%20January%202014New.pdf

Marginated
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/files/Marginated%20care%20sheet%20January%202014New.pdf

06/10/2024

🐢🐢 Ever wondered what your tort looks like underneath their shell? See some interesting anatomy diagrams and X-ray examples below 🩻 🐢🐢

04/10/2024

🐢🐢 I found a video about
‘5 common tortoise mistakes’
Hopefully useful to some 🐢🐢

I hope you enjoy this video, please share it with anyone considering getting a tortoise and hopefully it gives them some tips. Let me know if there's any mis...

04/10/2024

🐢🐢 Hello all, If you are noticing an autumnal change in your torts, this might be a useful read 🐢🐢

A. C. HighfieldThis article is a brief guide to how to handle some very common problems that arise in auutum during the period when tortoises are preparing for hibernation (brumation) or shortly afterwards. It includes quite a lot of links to far more detailed articles on this website that cover cer...

10/09/2024

🐢I saw this and had to share it here! 🐢

Make a DIY Tortoise Topiary 🐢
Fill the shell with quality garden soil to the top. Cut the chicken coop mesh and attach it with with wire to the metal frame all around the edges. Use 4 small terracotta pots as legs.

01/09/2024

🐢🐢 With the summer sadly drawing to an end, you might be starting to think about your hibernation process for the coming winter, here is some useful info from The Tortoise Trust 🐢🐢

Kate BradleyThis is a very useful and important article that we first published on our old website. As it still remains highly relevant we have now migrated it to this new site. In the next few days we are also migrating another very useful article on this method. The time was fast approaching when....

09/08/2024

🐢🐢Thought we would share some useful info from the Tortoise Trust about outside year round living environments 🐢🐢

17/07/2024

🐢🐢 Hermann and Marginated 2024 hatchlings now available, pm for more info. Thanks 🐢🐢

*Sorry previous post got accidentally removed.*

16/12/2023

🐢🐢 Many happy returns Jonathon, wishing you a very happy 191st birthday! 🥳 We hope he got some strawberries 🍓 and tomatoes 🍅 as a birthday treat! 😋🐢🐢

191-year-old Jonathan extends his record as the oldest living land animal and oldest chelonian ever.