NEWS106
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Maleof the form from southern India.
Photo:F.Schäfer
Juvenileof the form from southern India.
Photo:ChristophFritz,www.reptilia24.com
Adult femaleof theSri Lanka form.
Photo:C.Fritz,www.reptilia24.com
long-term terrarium maintenance in the
home.Theterrariumsizeshouldbesuchasto
provideabottomareaaroundeight timesas
longand four timesaswideas thecarapace
lengthof the largestspecimens.On thisbasis
a terrariumwithabottomareaof 200x100
cm,whichcangenerallybeaccommodated in
astandard living-room,willsufficefortheform
from southern India,whosecarapace length
doesn’t exceed25cm.However these tortoi-
sesareslow-growing,so juvenilesrequireonly
a fractionof thisspace,andmanyspecimens,
especiallymales,remainsmallerall their lives,
so you can very oftenget bywith a signifi-
cantlysmaller terrarium.Thesubstrate for the
terrariumshouldconsistofamixtureof sand
andgardensoil.Becausethesetortoises inva-
riablyfeedfromthesubstratetosomeextent,
it is important that the sand is natural river
sandandnotbuilders’sharp sandwhichhas
sharpedgesandcancause irritationofthesto-
machand intestines.
Plentyof roughage!
Numerousmistakescontinuetoberegularly
made in feeding tortoises.Theseanimals re-
quirenutrient-poor, fiber-rich foods suchas
wildherbs (grass,plantains,dandelions,mal-
low,etc),while inwinter theycanbeoffered
endive,radicchio,Romaine lettuce,shredded
carrot,plushayandhaypellets,the latterpre-
soaked if possible.Cabbage lettuceand Ice-
berg lettucearenot good foods,while fruit
andmeat arebest avoided completely.The
food shouldbedustedonceperweekwith
proprietary calcium for reptiles. Freshdrin-
kingwatershouldbeprovidedregularly;be-
cause these tortoisesare fondofdefecating
in thewater the container shouldbe remo-
ved fromtheterrariumsoonafterdrinking.A
daily“shower”usinghand-warmwater from
aplantspray isverymuchenjoyed.
Regularlybred
Malesof
Geocheloneelegans
arefairlypeaceful
amongthemselves.Nowadaysthesetortoises
arebred regularly.Theclutchconsistsof 2-6
eggs,andafemalecanproduceuptofiveclut-
ches (butusually less)per season. Incubation
takes place at 27-33 °C and80-90% relative
humidity.Duringthebreedingseasonyoucan
obtainyoungsters fromwww.reptilia24.com
for example, or get your pet store to order
them foryou.
