Mediterranean Tortoises: Gentle Creatures in Hard Shells

I would like to inspire you, as a tortoise enthusiast, to practise the best possible, naturalistic husbandry for these special animals. Based on the foundation of more than 20 years of my dealing with Mediterranean tortoises, this book provides you with plentiful advice and tips from my practical experience to help you with keeping your tortoises. Starting with 'nature as our guide', I explain why the animals should be spared a life in a vivarium. This guide book contains over 175 pages of detailed suggestions for natural husbandry methods. I demonstrate the landscaping of outdoor enclosures and introduce suitable, and less suitable, feeding plants. Other topics are: optimal nutrition, care of hatchlings and juveniles, hibernation, tortoise health, successful breeding and species protection - as well as mistakes made in tortoise husbandry and many other subjects. Over 200 photographs of tortoises in their habitats, enclosure setups, plants and many other subjects make this book a particularly valuable read. I also dedicate a separate chapter to our youngest tortoise friends, as I would also like to engage this young generation, and their parents, in aspiring to a naturalistic approach to keeping tortoises. My book should be regarded as a basic guide for keeping Hermann's tortoises, Spur-thighed tortoises (Greek tortoises or Moorish tortoises), Horsfield's tortoises (Russian tortoises, Central Asian tortoises, Steppe tortoises, Afghan tortoises or Four-toed tortoises) and Marginated tortoises.