A specialist ophthalmic exam will be required to establish the extent of the damage. Andy C. Highfield The recent winter proved to be one...

Check weights before, during and following hibernation (brumation). Tortoises which emerge from hibernation (technically it is more...

Dr Mark R. Webb This species requires a relatively low-light, humid and forest-floor-like habitat. This article originally appeared in a...

by A. C. Highield/Tortoise Trust Hingeback tortoises are often rescued in very poor condition and can be challenging to rehabilitate. K....

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

Recovery of natural vegetation after drought and rain. A short video report:

Juveniles and adults live in the same locations, in the same habitat, and experience exactly the same environmental conditions. They...

Understanding The Risks A recipe for disaster: multiple different Testudo from differing origins (North Africa and Turkey) mixed at high...

The Tortoise Mythbusters - Episode 8 Poppies are often listed as a 'no feed', but certainly some species are eaten by tortoises in the...

A. C. Highfield This article is a brief guide to how to handle some very common problems that arise in autumn during the period when...

This is a simplified, but updated, article including advice incorporating our latest research, experience and observations. Obtaining...

Andy C. Highfield A typical 'Tortoise Table' setup with overhead basking lamp 'Overwintering' is a term that is used to describe keeping...

By Sue Brooks 'Tortoise-tables' offer many advantages over enclosed vivariums. Here's how to make your own! This simple enclosure can be...

A Galapagos tortoise soaks on Isla Santa Cruz There is a considerable amount of misunderstanding on the subject of the water requirement...

This is the current and updated version of the classic booklet of which well over 100,000 copies were distributed free of charge in pre-internet days, saving countless lives. This text uses the term 'hibernation', though these days we prefer the more biologically accurate term 'brumation'. In order to survive hibernation in good condition, tortoises need to have built up sufficient reserves of body fat; this in turn stores energy and water. Without fat and water tortoises d

Andy C. Highfield Refrigerators have been used successfully to artificially hibernate (brumate, in the case of reptiles) many animals....

Kate Bradley This is a very useful and important article that we first published on our old website. As it still remains highly relevant...

One of the early experimental 'mini-greenhouse' units from 1999-2000 in a sloped, well-drained outdoor pen planted with an edible...

We know that many species of tortoises do aestivate (summer dormancy) over the heat of summer, but there has long been uncertainly as to...

Massively accelerated captive growth in a young Testudo horsfieldii (Russian tortoise). Metabolic bone disease (MBD) occurs if a...