[Guest written for the TortoiseLibrary.Com- thank you Terry!]

by Terry O’Connell

The best habitat for a tortoise is a large sunny, outdoor
garden with a small pond, plenty of plants, and a large enough hide to protect
them from the elements and the hot sun. Unfortunately some keepers, like
myself, who live in a part of the world that has long harsh winters, have to
take their tortoises in for five or more months out of the year and need a
warm, humid place to keep them.

A large planted vivarium makes a perfectly interesting and
enjoyable environment for your tortoise, looks great and can easily mimic most
environments where tortoises come from.

Substrates and selections

The substrate that I use for my vivariums is a mixture of
half plain garden soil, and half coco coir (dehydrated brick) or peat moss. I
don’t like sand as it tends to make the soil heavy, and I’ve had problems with
small hatchlings scratching their eyes with it. I put enough substrate so that
the plants can be buried right up to the top of the rim of the pot that they
came in. If you’re using cypress mulch, that’s fine too. Just make sure it’s
deep enough to bury the plants with their pots. 

I buy most of my plants from Home Depot or Lowe’s. They have
a great variety of both indoor and outdoor plants and they’re not expensive. If
you’re using cypress mulch as a substrate, and you want to plant some seeds (‘spring
mix’ lettuces, etc.) they also sell seed trays that you can put some garden
soil in and place it in a corner of the vivarium.

There is a very small list of plants a few sections down that I use in my
vivariums that are completely edible. Most of these plants stay small, and do
well in a humid vivarium. I replace them a few times during the winter when I
spot clean the vivarium.

The trees that I have mentioned do well in high humidity
vivariums, if trimmed and kept small. There are many more tropical house plants
or weeds and grasses that you can plant that aren’t listed here. Experiment,
and have fun, just make sure that any plant you put in your vivarium is edible
for your tortoise. AfricanTortoise.com is my favorite site for plants. I use it for all my
vivariums and also my outdoor tortoise and turtle gardens.

Getting started and cares

Some people wait a few months before introducing commercial
plants into their vivariums, as there may be insecticides in the plant tissue.
I usually run the water through the pot for a few minutes and wash off the
entire plant with warm soapy water, but do what you feel comfortable with.

The plants are fertilized naturally by the tortoises, and
are watered directly into the pots once a week. I mist them, (along with my
tortoises) about twice a day.

I love any kind of green moss, and ground cover to go around
the water dish. They really help keep the water dish clean.

I keep a screen cover on top of my vivariums with a long
tube 5.0 UVB light on top. I like the long tube light the best, because it
doesn’t give off heat, which is what helps the plants grow without burning the
leaves. If you’re using any kind of heat source- like a ceramic heat emitter-
make sure you don’t put plants directly under them, as the leaves will burn and
eventually the plants will die.

During the winter months, when the heat is on and I have to
keep the humidity up in the vivarium, I cover the top with clear wrapping tape,
leaving a long thin opening for the UVB light, and an opening for the heat
emitter. I like it because it’s cheap, and I can change it if it gets dirty or
soiled. You can also use Plexiglas. Inside the hide, I use long fiber New
Zealand Sphagnum Moss. I like this moss the best because it’s very soft, and
stays fluffy. Once a week, I take it out and wet it with hot water, squeeze it
out and fluff it up. The hide always stays very humid, which to me is more
important that the overall humidity in the vivarium.

Advanced ideas

During the winter months, I throw in some spring mix seeds and
Rose of Sharon Seeds. They eat the little sprouts as soon as they come up.
Again, if you’re not using soil, you can use seed trays for planting the seeds.

I love spring flowers for my vivariums, but be prepared to
replace them often. My Red-foot ‘Cherry-head’s’ (Chelonoidis carbonaria) will eat pansies, begonias and petunias
right down to the ground. My tortoises are fed twice a day, as much as they
want when they’re inside, so they usually don’t bother any of the other plants,
but they just can’t resist those spring flowers. I usually buy a few flats that
have 24 small plants, so they can be replaced as they are eaten. By the time
they finish them, it’s time to go outside in the Tortoise Garden.

Ground covers that spread easily like Sedum or Creeping
Jenny are good to use, as they are almost impossible to kill, and can be walked
on with no problem.

When the tortoises are small I usually bury the plants
(keeping them in the little plastic pots that they come in) in different spots
around the vivarium, using them as obstacles so they have to walk around them,
giving it a more natural and interesting look. I also like to put plants in
back of the hide, letting them grow over the top of the hide, giving it a
cave-like appearance.

As your tortoise gets older and bigger, you will have to use
fewer plants, so he’ll have more roaming space. I have my 8in/20cm Cherry-head in
a 125 gallon vivarium. I put a lot of plants around her hide, one larger plant
in the middle, that she likes to sit under, and some around the water dish on
the opposite end of the vivarium. I sprinkle some spring mix seeds throughout
the vivarium, and she will eat the sprouts as they come up.

A plant hanging in a corner of the vivarium makes a great
natural hide for hatchlings. I like a pot of Baby Tears- a long bushy plant
that hangs down into the substrate. When my Cherry-heads were hatchlings, they
loved to hide under the hanging vines and I didn’t have to worry about the
plant getting destroyed. It can be any plant that is full and long. So be
inventive, use your imagination, and have fun creating your little tropical
forest. Your tortoises will thank you.

My plant list

Succulents
Aloe vera)

Begonia spp.)

Bromeliads (Bromeliaceae spp.)

Chicks and Hens (Sempervivum spp.)

Christmas (or other holiday) cactus (Schlumbergera spp.)

Desert rose (Adenium obesum)

Live-forever (Sedum purpureum), and other Sedum species

Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora)

 

Trees and bushes
(started with seeds or cuttings and planted
in a small pot)

Fig trees (Ficus spp.)

Hibiscus spp.
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)

 

Cultivated plants
Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila spp.)

Bridal Veil (Tripogandra multifiora)

Coleus (Coieus spp.)

Geranium (Pelargonium spp.)

Grape ivy (Cissus rhombifolia)

Pansy (Viola spp.)

Petunias (Petunia spp.)

Pothos (Epipremnum aureum )

Spider plant (Chiorophytum comosum)

Strawberries  (Fragana
spp.)

Violets (Viola spp.)

 

Common weeds
Clover, red and green (Trifolium spp.)

Dandelion (Agoseris aurantiaca)

Plantain (or Plantago, Plantago spp.)

Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

 

Ferns
Asparagus fern (Asperagus setaceus plumosis)

Boston fern (Nephrolepsis exalta)

Staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum)

 

Ground covers
Creeping Charlie (Pilea nummulariifolia)

Creeping fig vine

Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummlaria)

Ground ivy (Glechomo hederacea)

Sedum (Sedum spp.)

Swedish ivy (Plectranthus australis)

Wandering Jew (Tradescantia 
spp.)

 

Seeds
Rose of Sharon seeds

Spring Mix (lettuce) seeds

 

Moss
Frog moss

Irish moss (Chondrus crispus)

Kate Moss (Homo sapiens)

Scottish moss (Sagina subulata ‘Aurea’)