Desert Tortoises (Gopherus spp.) Fact Sheet: Managed Care

Managed care breeding and management

• Breeding in managed care is discouraged out of concern for spread of disease from captive tortoises
• Management practices should be "compatible with the evolutionary history of gene flow" in widely separated desert tortoise populations (Edwards et al 2004)
  • Human-made barriers now block tortoise movements
  • Translocations to small isolated populations from nearby populations may aid in long term survival
  • Potential hazards of translocations currently being assessed; may increase spread of disease, survival of translocated tortoises needs further study
• Desert tortoises from a managed care source can be kept in Arizona, but only one tortoise per family.
• In Nevada, desert tortoises can be kept if were already in managed care prior to listing; can't buy, sell, or give them away.
• Sonoran Desert Museum established a Tortoise Adoption Program (sanctioned by AZ Game & Fish Department)
  Desert tortoises can be kept in California after obtaining a permit from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
• Desert tortoises are hardy and are often given harmful care because the effects are not immediately obvious
• Conditions necessary for healthy desert tortoises:
  • Outdoor living
  • Diet as close to that in the wild as possible (be wary of advice in websites and popular literature)
  • Living in the species natural geographical range
  • A well-designed and secure habitat with sun and shade, a burrow, walls to prevent climbing out
  • Protection from injury and extremes of climate
  • Protection from ants, dogs, other turtle species, predatory birds, rodents, house cats
• Dietary items often offered but which should be avoided:
  • Apples, avocado, bananas, cat and dog food, corn, dairy products, iceberg lettuce, melons, peaches, primate biscuits
  • Any commercial diets marketed for turtles (they are tortoises, with different dietary requirements than that of other turtles)
• Forages can include:
  • Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) 
  • Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon)
  • Clover (Trifolium spp.)
  • Dichondra (Dichondra sp.)
  • Ryegrass (Lolium spp)
  • Grape and mulberry leaves
• Tortoises need to graze freely in foraging areas

Edwards et al. (2004)
Jarchow et al. (2002)