NEWS108
19
BabyMarginatedTortoise,
Testudomarginata.
for food in the relatively limited area
around theirhiding-places,and therewon't
beall thatmuch there.Food too rich inca-
lories is undoubtedly the commonest
causeof death inyoung tortoises incapti-
vity. Inpractice thismeans that unlimited
amounts of dry, nutrient-poor, but roug-
hage-rich food suchashayandhaypellets
shouldalwaysbeavailable.Inadditionyou
can give a handful of mixed fresh food
(plantains, dandelions, clover, grasses, etc)
per individualperdayor, ifnothing isavai-
lable from themeadows,salad leavessuch
as Rocket, Romaine lettuce, Endive, or
Lamb's Lettuce. Iceberg and cabbage let-
tuce shouldbe avoided, they aren't parti-
cularlyhealthy.
Lotsof light!
Light is of immense importance for kee-
ping European tortoises healthy.Here too
well-plannedplantingcanbeveryhelpful:
if the plants listedabovearegrowingwell
then there is also sufficient light and its
composition issuitable for the tortoises.UV
light is of particular importance. As in us
humans,VitaminD3,which is of great im-
portance inbonemetabolism, is synthesi-
zed in the skinof reptiles under the influ-
ence of UV light. Softening of the bones
(best seen in the shell, which is, after all,
composedofbone)canbe the resultof too
littleUV light.The tradeoffersahugeselec-
tionof UV-light sources, providing some-
thingsuitable foreveryneed.Butbeaware
that UV light alone cannot replace the
amount of full-spectrum light required!
The amount of full-spectrum light has a
hugeeffecton thehormonebudgetof tor-
toises;withoutadequate light theywill cer-
tainly fall ill.
Singlyor ingroups?
European tortoises are essentially solitary
in the wild and come together only to
mateand in response toparticular triggers
(overwintering; local, seasonal reductions
in food supply).They do not become im-
printedonhumansandevenanewly-hat-
ched baby tortoise knows instinctively
that it is a tortoise, as it will never have
known itsmotheroranotheradult tortoise
in thewild. European tortoises always be-
come tame, ie they learn to recognizehu-
mansasasourceof foodand react to them
accordingly. All this is independent of
whether theyarekept singlyor ingroups.
The advantage of groupmaintenance is
that individualskept ingroupsexperience
more social stress,whichhas apositiveef-
fect on their health. Unlike in everyday
usagewhere theword "stress" alwayshas
negative connotations, scientists draw a
very clear distinction between negative
stress (the technical term is "distress") and
positivestress ("eustress").Eithercancause
illness if itoutweighs theother toasignifi-
cant degree. Too much peace and quiet
canbe just asharmful as toomuchexcite-
ment.Abalancedmixture is ideal.
Many animals experience too little nega-
tive stress in captivity, as predationpres-
sure is lacking,and likewise theharmfulen-
vironmental influences that cost very
many lives in thewildare largelyabsent. In
addition parasite pressure is very much
lower in captivity than in the wild. So in
terms ofmaintaininggoodhealth the ne-
gative stress resulting from social stress (ie
competition for food, squabblingover the
besthiding- and sunbathing-places,etc.) is
verybeneficial andhence groupmainten-
ance is preferable to keeping them singly.
In addition it will provide the owner with
numerousopportunities for interestingob-
servationson the social interactionsof the
tortoises
Asmentioned at the beginning, an article
like this cannot and shouldnot try tobea
substitute for a comprehensivehandbook.
It is intended toprovideadviceon thecom-
monest causesofmistakes in themainten-
ance of baby tortoises and how to avoid
them.Major and important topics such as
"outdoor or terrariummaintenance", "ter-
rariumandpen size",and "over-wintering"
havebeendeliberatelyomitted,as theyare
beyond thescopeofanarticle like this.They
will insteadbediscussed inanother issueof
theNews.
Ifyouarenow filledwith thedesire tokeep
European tortoisebabies thenyoucanob-
tain them viawww.reptilia24.com, for ex-
ample,orgetyourpetdealer toorder them
for you there.
Adult
T.graeca
ibera fromTurkey.
