General Tortoise Information

 

 

When Were Tortoises First Brought To This Country?

   Tortoises were first brought to the UK by the Romans, who kept them as pets, not as a food source. Later, in the Seventeen Hundreds it became a popular exotic pe,t for wealthy landowners to have them, particularly, the larger species, roaming on their estates.

 

   In the 1960’s and 70’s the pet trade in tortoises took off and you could get them from a number of unusual places, besides buying one at a pet shop. Unfortunately for the tortoises they became the new ‘it’ fad but sadly no one really knew how to look after them properly. Cat food was often recommended which is a big no no as most tortoises are vegetarian. However, if you are hungry enough you will eat anything, so they often died from a very poor and unsuitable diet.

 

   The other unfortunate consequence of having them as a pet was that they would often escape and go wandering off into neighbours garden, many were not recovered and a few may even have managed to live wild. This inspired the practice of drilling a tether hole into their shell, usually in one of the scutes near their back legs, so that a rope or chain could be attached to it and the tortoise could not wander from the garden. This does sound a rather barbaric procedure, as the shell has nerve endings and blood vessels in it. In practice it would probably be rather like having your ears pierced, it hurts briefly when it is done but then will give you no further pain. This practice is no longer encouraged, and not usually necessary since most gardens are now much better fenced off than they were in the past.

 

   The good news is that we hear numerous stories from people who have found them wandering and taken them in as a family pet, when their owners did not reclaim them for whatever reason, and they have lived long happy lives, to be handed down through the generations as a living family heirloom. There are a surprising number of households who currently have, or have had, a tortoise in their lives at some point.

 

   Between 1969 and 1972 it is thought that an estimated 480,000 Spur-thighed tortoises were imported into the UK. These crates and crates of animals did not have the best trip over from south east Europe and many died en route leaving decimated numbers in their home region.

 

   Once they arrived here, life did not immediately get better for them, as it is believed that only 1 out of every hundred Spur -thighs survived their first winter. Thankfully, greater efforts have been made to improve their care, over the years, and many of the fortunate survivors have lead a long and happy life in the UK.

 

   It is as a result of these import practices that the CITES legislation was set up, coming into force 1 July 1975, after years of planning between the countries involved. Cites protected tortoises can no longer be taken directly from the wild, for the pet trade, and they need an A10 certificate to be bought and sold.

 

   There are an estimated 400,000 tortoises and turtles living in the UK, which are kept as pets. Of these around 0.05% are Aldabra Giant Tortoises.

 

 

What Was The Largest Shelled Animal Found In The UK?

   The largest wild animal belonging to the tortoise family that was found on British soil was the carcass of a Leatherback Turtle, which was 9 ft 5 inches (around 3m) long, it was found washed up on the beach in Harlech in Gwynedd, North Wales in September 1988. It was thought to be around 100 years old at the time but unfortunately, it had drowned after becoming entangled and trapped in fishing lines. The turtle is now on display at the National Museum in Cardiff.

 

 

Death By Tortoise

   The Greek dramatist Aeschylus was supposed to have been killed by a tortoise, which had been dropped, by an eagle, onto his head. It is most likely that it would have been an Egyptian Tortoise, which are small enough to be picked up by a bird of prey, which have learned to drop them from a great height, to open them. Unfortunately, Aeschylus seems to have got in the way of its landing on the ground.

 

 

Are Tortoise Shell Products Really Made Of Tortoise Shell?

   Originally they were. However, in actual fact most of the original tortoiseshell came from the Hawksbill Turtle, which was found in the Pacific Ocean, and as a result it became a highly endangered species. The outer shell was stripped, by heat, from the turtle, sometimes whilst it is still alive. A few survived to grow a second shell to compensate but they would have endured a lot of pain. World wide trade, under CITES, was banned in 1973. Thankfully, modern tortoise shell is made of plastic or other synthetics of some form.

 

 

Don't Accept You Tube Tortoise Videos As Gospel.

   The Americans, and Aldabra keepers in other parts of the world, have some stunning animals. There are many videos on Aldabra and Sulcata tortoises, from people, on the internet, uploaded to places like YouTube etc. However, just because you see them doing something on their video does not mean that it would be right for your animal here in the UK. They have different weather, foods and attitude to their tortoises care. Appreciate their posts for what they are, but do your own research for what your tortoise needs in this country. A tortoise left to free roam on a huge Texas ranch is not the same as free roaming around a housing estate in Colchester.

 

   On many occasions their tortoises are just left to do their own thing because their weather conditions, in some places, are much more like Aldabra and Africa. The UK is different, we have to recreate those conditions artificially so we need to monitor their care more closely.