What do you need to successfully prepare for a Horsfield's T

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Horsfield's Tortoises come from open, windy, arid grasslands so air flow is extremely important. They also experience steep temperature gradients due to their variable habitat and deep burrows. Tortoise Tables are the current accepted standard for indoor housing for young tortoises. Clearseal produce a 180x60cm table in a range of colours, this product provides plenty of space for a young tortoise to grow into and allows for safe gradients of heat and light to be established without compromising due to lack of space. It is our firm belief that 180cm should be the minimum length provided indoors even to small tortoises to allow for appropriate gradients. 

Daytime heating should be provided by an incandescent or halogen heat lamp. There are many high quality lamps to choose from and it is always best to consult Reptile Lighting Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/) when deciding which lamp will fit your setup. We highly recommend White Python IR-A Basking Lamp, Exo Terra Intense Basking Lamp, Reptile Systems Eco Halogen for providing quality and reliable infra red to your tortoise during the day. It is important to note that larger animals will require more than one lamp to provide a basking area that evenly covers their shell, this is to avoid hot spots and uneven heating of the animal. 

There are other options depending on your setup  but our recommended lamps work with most standard indoor setups when mounted at a safe height from the animal.

It is a long established fact that tortoises like many reptiles, require access to UVB lighting in captivity. This should be provided using a T5 Linear UVB system. Arcadia, Zoo Med, Reptile Systems and Exo Terra all make high quality, reliable and tested UVB lamps. The actual bulb needed will be determined by the height of the mounted fixture above the tortoise. Generally a 12%/10.0/Zone 3 or UVB 300 lamp would be used. Consult the Reptile Lighting Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/) for specific distances between the tortoise and the UVB lamp you have selected. It is vital that T5 Lamps be replaced regularly (6-12 months depending on brand) so that the output does not diminish. 

We do not recommend the use of T8 Linear tubes, Mercury Vapour Lamps or UVB LED Lamps at this time. They have proven to be inappropriate, ineffective/inefficient or potentially harmful in some instances.

I will try and keep this section as simple as possible while highlighting the importance of UVA to pet tortoises.

Tortoises are tetrachromatic, meaning they see the world VERY differently to humans. New LED technology (Faunalux True Chroma and Sol Vision LED) allows us to now provide UVA 1 to captive animals and this wavelength of light allows tetrachromatic animals, like some reptiles and birds, to see the world more clearly. That is over simplified in the interests of remaining concise. 

These LED spot lamps should be used alongside basking lamps, T5 UVB systems and arranged to create a sun spot. I use these lamps on my indoor Chelonians and I was blown away by the difference in activity, appetite and awareness in my animals. These are expensive lamps that provide a unique and important part of your tortoises indoor environment that was not possible a few years ago. 

So much controversy surrounds the "best" substrate for Horsfield's Tortoises and the reality is, it's a very simple substrate to recreate. 

Being found on arid, open grasslands and steppes means that Horsfield's Tortoises encounter a sandy, soil with clay, rocks, gravel and of course plants/plant roots within. In captivity Organic Topsoil (Wickes being my preferred brand) has become a one size fits all option for indoor tortoise housing. For many years we had no safe, high quality, thoughtful products to buy and sell in the pet trade, until 2026! Habistat launched a stunning substrate. Mixed with tortoise welfare in mind, I was overjoyed when I opened this product and found no added nasties, no chalk lumps, no coco coir, no grit and no fine irritating dust. Wicke's Topsoil has served us well and I still highly recommend it as the base of your substrate mix, but consider adding sand, clay, cobbles, leaf litter etc to make the substrate as natural and as functional as possible for your tortoise. If you don't fancy DIY, use a base of topsoil to gain some depth and top it off with a couple of bags of this great new substrate.

(I am in no way sponsored by Habistat) 

Other great options for pre mixed substrates include Pro Rep Bio Life Desert, Arcadia Earth Mix Arid and Pro Rep Leo LIfe. All are safe, but will need some added extras to make them totally appropriate.

Aim for a substrate depth equal to or greater than your tortoises shell length to allow burrowing and thermoregulation.

Wild tortoises eat a huge variety of plants, flowers and grasses and although we may strive to provide as wide a variety as possible there are often short comings in a captive diet. A broad spectrum multivitamin (does not need to contain D3 if using high quality lighting or housing outdoors for part or all of the day) should be added to foods once a week for youngsters and once every couple of weeks for adults. A calcium supplement, be that "Calci-dust", lump chalk or grated cuttle bone should be added 3-4 times a week for youngsters and 2-3 times a week for adults (10 years plus).

 It is important to note that more supplementation may be required if you are not feeding a varied and natural diet of weeds, flowers etc (which we would not recommend due to health issues long term) and similarly, reduced supplementation should be given to animals who are naturally foraging or being fed dozens of natural food plants.

Tortoises do not live in 2D environments, or barren flat plains. This must be taken into account when designing a captive environment. Young tortoises must be allowed to climb. It helps with limb development and adult locomotion. Drift wood, corbo root, rocks, slates, cork bark, wine wood, talawa wood, mounded substrate all work together to make an interesting, engaging and beneficial environment for a captive tortoise. 

There isn't much to "buy" when it comes to natural and safe Horsfield's Tortoise food as the vast majority of their food should be grown or foraged from safe areas. 

We recommend following the guides on The Tortoise Table (also available as a handy app!)   The Tortoise Table - Home 

There are a growing number of safe plants available from local reptile centres, online sellers and even some garden centres are starting to introduce organic, tortoise safe sections. The important thing is variety and trying not to rely on supermarket produce for the bulk of your tortoises diet.

Pellet diets should be avoided - a future article will deal with this in more detail. 

Some handy additions available in reptile centres are dried weed and flower mixes, Arcadia Optimised 52 and Opuntia Cactus Pads. These are not staple foods but are very helpful with first time keepers to give them peace of mind while learning what plants are safe and how to grow them and identify them. 

Heat Lamps should be connected to a dimming thermostat to control your tortoises temperature. The temperature should then be separately measured by a digital thermometer.

It is unsafe to just go by the reading on the thermostat. 

Brumation

It is important that Horsfield's Tortoises be encouraged to brumate each year once they have been assessed by a qualified Reptile Veterinarian. This process keeps growth slow, avoids metabolic bone disease and pyramiding and contributes to overall health. 

It is a strange process to allow your animal to be cooled down and not fed for several months but the benefits to your tortoise are huge over its many decades of life. 

For a detailed guide please visit The Tortoise Trust and read the many articles regarding brumation and associated problems. https://www.tortoisetrust.com/post/safer-hibernation-your-tortoise

The majority of Horsfield's Tortoises available in the UK Pet Trade are farmed youngsters. These tortoises are often labelled as Captive Bred, which is misleading but not completely untrue. 

When tortoise advocates say, "Buy captive bred" they mean an animal born and bred in the UK. These animals are much harder to find but are worth the extra effort. 

Captive Farmed tortoises are shipped across Europe in over often crowded conditions, held at wholesalers in similar conditions and then distributed to shops or online sellers across the UK. These animals can (not will) have inherent issues, are not ethically sourced or raised due to the demand for them and quite often are mislabelled and misrepresented. 

UK Captive Bred tortoises don't have to go through all that before entering your home so are all around a better option especially for first time keepers. We will discuss Farmed Tortoises in much more detail in an upcoming article we are working on.