From the Archives of

The Colorado Herpetological Society

Miscellaneous Articles

African Spurred Tortoise
(Geochelone sulcata)

by Virginia Russell

The sulcata's home range is the hottest, driest areas in Africa; a band across most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert. Some of the regions may not get rainfall for years. During the hottest part of the day, they dig and live in burrows that can be over 20 feet long. They do not hibernate like cold weather tortoises.

They are the third largest tortoise in the world. In the wild, males may grow in size to 30 inches and weigh 230 pounds. Captive tortoises tend to be smaller, 2 feet in length and 100-200 pounds. Sexual maturity is reached at about 25-30 years old. They are difficult to sex correctly until they reach 25-30 inches long. A distinguishing feature is the long spurs on each thigh.

In captivity, they need room-sized enclosures. Our sulcatas are kept in seperate, large, wood-sided enclosures with newspaper as the substrate. One end of the enclosure is a hide box with shredded paper to burrow in. The substrate needs to be changed as it gets soiled, so keep it simple. Your home can start to smell like a stable, so for their health and your nose, clean up after them all the time. When the weather is cold or wet, they wander our very warm house. During the summer, they wander outside in the yard all day, grazing on the grass (we do not put anything on our lawn except water). At dusk, we bring them into the house.

Daytime temperatures should be 80-85°F with a basking site temperature of 95-100°F. Night temperatures should be 70-75°F. Ultraviolet B lighting must be available if they are not receiving unfiltered sunlight.

The major percentage of their diet consists of dark green lettuces like collard, turnip, mustard, dandelion, and high fiber grasses. They eat a large variety of vegetables and fruits like carrots, squashes, melons, apples, beans, peas, apricots, peaches, and berries. Do not feed iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, or rhubarb. A sprinkling of a good multi-vitamin and washed, crushed egg shells or crushed oyster shell (found in the bird food section) on their food once a week is needed. Keep a cuttle bone in their pen and they will chew on it as needed for calcium. We keep a heavy (they will knock over a light one) bowl of fresh water in their pens at all times. A half hour soak in a shallow tub of warm water once a week will allow them to drink if they need to. They can be given a bath with an anti-bacterial soap after their soak because they will need it.

These tortoises make wonderful pets with great personalities. They can be very stubborn too. They are very strong and will walk over and knock over anything and everything in their way. If there are dogs in the same household, or nearby, keep them away from the tortoises. These are large tortoises but dogs do have sharp teeth.

If you have any questions, comments, or are a fellow lover of these great tortoises, please call me at (303) 423-1416.