Simple facts about the tortoise

There are many people who love to have tortoise as a pet. There are some of the simple facts about the tortoise which are left untold to mankind. Let’s have a glance at some of the simple facts about tortoise.

Simple facts about the tortoise:

1. The tortoise adds to chelonian family by being its third member.
2. There are about 40 species of tortoise. Some of them are aldabran tortoise, galapagos tortoise, mediterranean tortoise, redfood tortoise, yellowfoot tortoise, russian tortoise, hingeback tortoise, desert tortoise, star tortoise, spurred tortoise, leopard tortoise, burmese mountain tortoise, common long-neck tortoise, murray river short-neck tortoise, krefft’s tortoise, western swamp tortoise and macquarie tortoise.
3. Tortoises have four legs and a shell that is joined down the sides. They also have horny strong mouths but they don’t have teeth.
4. The largest species of tortoise are the giant Galapagos, mostly found in Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America and the aldabran. These tortoises can grow up to 1.5 metres. The other largest species of tortoise is Aldabram. These tortoises are mostly found in the Aldabra Islands off the coast of east Africa and can weigh up to 300 kg.
5. The tortoises are found in many countries around the world but mainly in the southern hemisphere where the weather is warmer for most of the year.
6. Tortoise shell protects them from predators but the skin of tortoise on the head, legs and belly is quite soft. Therefore tortoises pull in their limbs into their shell to protect themselves. The size of tortoise shell can range form a few centimeters to a couple of meters depending on the species of tortoise.
7. Most of the tortoise are herbivores and eat grass, weed, flowers, leafy greens and fruits.
8. The lifespan of tortoise is similar to the lifespan of humans, however some species of tortoise, like giant tortoise can live up to 150 years.
9. Female tortoise dig burrows so that sit can lay her eggs there. The female tortoise can lay between one to thirty eggs at the same time.
10. Tortoise babies are very vulnerable and few tend to survive. Therefore it is important for owner to provide proper care and environment to baby tortoise.
11. The pet tortoise mostly prefers to live in the garden or vegetable area where there is lots of food for tortoise to eat.
12. Most of the tortoises hibernate during the colder winter months particularly the tortoises which stay in northern hemisphere. Tortoises come out of hibernation when the weather starts to get warmer again.
13. The top part of tortoise’s hell is dome shaped and is higher than a turtle or terrapin carapace.

After coming across so many facts about the tortoise, it must have become easier for you to figure out the oddity in behavior of your tortoise. So remember these facts and try to make the life of your tortoise better by understanding it even more.