Review of Florida Gopher Tortoise Care Tips, Habit, Breeding

Florida Gopher Tortoise

The gopher tortoise is a cold blooded creature that grows up to about 25 cm in length and 4 kg in weight whereas Florida gopher tortoise can grow up to the length of 14 inches. It has the ability to dig large and deep burrows up to 30 feet long. Male gopher tortoise and female gopher tortoise are easy to distinguish. Male gopher can be distinguished by its concave plastron.

Moreover, they have a projection on the front of the plastron underneath the chin; however, this characteristic is not always reliable. A female gopher has a flat plastron.

Florida gopher tortoises require proper attention and care to sustain their health. It is important for one to monitor their activity regularly. If you find any kind of change in your gopher tortoise activity then you should immediately consult veterinary. It is advisable to take your pet gopher tortoise to veterinary once in every three months.

Florida gopher tortoise care tips:

Food for Florida gopher tortoise

Florida gopher tortoise requires proper and healthy food to survive. The owner should make sure that the food they serve to their tortoise is clean and healthy. Gopher tortoises are the mostly herbivorous animals that feed on low grown grasses and plants.

They mostly like to have grasses and legumes on their diet. They also eat pads, fruits, and flowers of prickly pear cactus. Florida gopher tortoises are hardly seen drinking water from still water. They usually consume water from the food they eat. It is advisable to feed them in some other place in order to maintain cleanliness in their enclosure.

Habitat for Florida gopher tortoise

Florida gopher tortoises require adequate space to move rest and stay in. The adequate size of male gopher habitat should be 1.9 ha and the female habitat should be 0.65 ha. They require sandy soil in their habitat for digging burrows and nests.

One can enhance their enclosure by adding small grass in their enclosures. The walls of their enclosures should be high enough so that they don’t escape. It should not contain any poisonous item in it. Clean enclosures will help in sustaining the health of your gopher tortoise. They should be provided with two enclosures, one to eat in and others to stay and relax in. One should maintain cleanliness in both the enclosures in order to avoid bacterial growth in it.

Florida gopher tortoise breeding

It is a good idea to raise Florida gopher tortoise of your own instead of purchasing from a pet store. They usually mate in the months of April and May. They can lay eggs either in a sunny spot or sandy mound.

They will lay around 13 to 15 eggs at that place. Those eggs will hatch in the other 70 to 100 days. Baby Florida gopher tortoise will spend most of their time in their mother’s burrow until they learn to dig their own. Baby gopher tortoise will reach maturity in 10 to 15 years.