by Sico » Sun Dec 11, 2016 2:10 pm
Jeanetta congratulations for taking the time to ask sensible questions.
Firstly, the tortoise shouldn't be sleeping all the time, I currently have two rescues and they are active from sunrise to sunset and cover a large part of the garden on whatever mission they have. They eat a fair amount of food, yes, they will eat some garden plants including certain types of aloes and succulents, but they need a more varied diet than this in order to thrive. Lettuce once a week won't cut it I'm afraid. If you search on the forum for tortoise diet you will find another post I made on the same subject, follow those guidelines. The two I have eat a large amount of prepared food daily (if healthy, they will eat as much as you put in front of them, especially larger ones which can lead to overfeeding). Tortoises need to either be in a very secure enclosure (they may not look like it, but are escape artists) or need to be in a garden where they are secure from Dogs (who regularly injure and kill them) or from being trapped in other manners. Swimming pools aren't generally an issue as tortoises can float for quite some time, but eventually will drown if they are left alone to tire out. They do however need access to clean, fresh drinking water in a container suitable for them to climb into as they like to "bathe". They need a shelter from the sun, and depending where you live and the size of the animal they may need shelter from the cold in Winter. They can make nice additions to the family, but they do not a certain amount of care and attention in order to thrive, please be sure that you have the time to provide a healthy environment for it, or otherwise find a suitable home. Whatever you do, do not release it into the wild as you do not know where it originated, and what domestic germs it may have acquired.
Mark
Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, experience usually comes from bad judgment.