What kind of pet turtle or tortoise would live well outside in our Arizona backyard?

tepperony: What kind of pet turtle or tortoise would live well outside in our Arizona backyard?
My daughter desperately wants a pet turtle or tortoise, but I am clueless as to what would be best for our family.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Khrysty
Hm…possibly a desert tortoise?

Here is what they would eat..i suspect it would be fairly low maintenence, but you would have to do some research on your own of course.

https://www.anapsid.org/tortdiet.html

Answer by Veronika S.
perhaps you could show a pic of your backyard? is it a basic dirt backyard with some green grass, or is it chocked full of overgrown weeds and tree branches. if its the second option you definitely got the right critter on mind! yes any desert tortoise will go wild for a weed based garden.

read about the different desert species first to get an idea of the environment you will need to provide.
https://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-russian.htm
https://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-easthermanns.htm
https://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-startortoise.htm

key points

*you need plenty of sun!! md 80’s and upper 90’s should be the normal weather for outdoor enclosures

*enclosure needs to be wooded (safest) and be 2 feet high (to prevent escapes), 3 feet deep (tortoises can sure dig) and have a hard plastic pan lining. you might have to actually DIG and properly create a safe enclosure. and a chicken wire or mesh top is required as well. remember there are several dangers out there…coyotes, eagles, large predatory birds that can get to the tortoise. you need to research about how to PROPERLY set up this type of enclosure. different enclosures vary on specific species.

*look up in the area what type of weeds you have, or willing to plant. some weeds are poisonous so you definitely need to do a local search on what type of vegetation you have in the area

*temperature control is critical! you need to know the temps at all times. if the outdoor temps fall bellow 60 at night you will need to somehow insulate the enclosure with a heat emitter or some type of lid that will block out the cold air.

some example setups
https://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/015.JPG

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/54/171877155_3143637b93.jpg?v=0

this is probably the most useful tortoise site OF ALL TIME!! : https://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/habitatdesign.htm

please research first and good luck tortoises live to be very very old so quite the commitment!!

Answer by madkins007
The Desert Tortoise would be a good fit for the habitat- you might see if you can adopt one locally. They are not great pets since they tend to live in deep burrows, but they are interesting if you are into them.

Other choices would be the various Mediterranean species- most commonly the Greek and Hermann’s. This group is going through some naming changes, so you will also see names like Iberian, etc.

If the size of the tortoise is not a problem, and you don’t mind lots of digging, you might consider a Leopard or Sulcata Tortoise.

You can research these at https://www.tortoise.org and https://www.tortoisetrust.org

Answer by Tiff(:
I live in Arizona as well. You can buy a desert tortoise if you wanted a tortoise, or you can buy a red eared slider. I have a red eared slider and she is really cool. I’ve never owned a desert tortoise but I have owned a tortoise before. I know it gets very hot, so maybe a red eared slider. I think it’s best because it mostly lives in water and if it gets too hot it can go in the water. It can also get warm from the sun so that would be good as well. They can eat turkey, fish, live feeder fish, pellets, crickets (dusted with calcium powder), and lettuce (this is what I feed mine, you can also feed it other things too). The turkey and fish can be from the deli or you can feed it the turkey from the store packages instead of the deli. You can buy crickets (calcium powder) and live feeder fish at your local pet store. Turkey, fish, and lettuce can be bought at the store. When it gets to be winter time again (since it gets really could), you can buy a tank for the turtle so it can be inside with a heat lamp so it doesn’t hibernate. This is what I do with my turtle, and she is going to be 6 years old this year and I’ve had her ever since she was a little baby. You also can hand feed the turtle to lettuce, turkey, and fish. Good luck!