Tortoise Care Guide

Feeding, housing and hibernation for pet tortoises in New Zealand conditions — from the country's longest-running reptile specialists.

There are no tortoises native to New Zealand, but a handful of species are established and well-kept here as pets. Looked after properly, a tortoise can outlive its owner — some species regularly reach over 100 years old — so choosing and setting one up correctly from day one matters more than with almost any other pet.

This guide covers the species commonly kept in New Zealand, what and how to feed them, how to house them through our cooler, wetter climate, and how (or whether) to manage hibernation. For UVB and heating setup, see our Reptile Lighting & Heating Guide — everything there applies to tortoises too.

Tortoises Kept in New Zealand

A number of tortoise species have been kept privately in New Zealand over the years. Hermann's Tortoise, Spur-Thighed Tortoise and Box Turtles have all been bred successfully here by private breeders, though only in small numbers — they remain hard to come by. The rest are less common but still turn up in private collections.

Feeding Your Tortoise

Almost every serious tortoise health problem — pyramided shells, kidney damage, bladder stones — traces back to diet. Tortoises are grazers, not scavengers, and their gut is built for slow, steady processing of coarse, fibrous, low-protein plant matter, not the rich food most owners are tempted to offer.

What to Feed

• Base diet: weeds, grasses and hay (unsprayed lawn grass, dandelion, clover, plantain) should make up the bulk of every meal.
• Leafy greens: dark leafy vegetables such as kale, mustard and turnip greens, and non-toxic flowers like hibiscus.
• Fruit: only as an occasional treat, sparingly — most tortoises kept in NZ are grassland or Mediterranean species that don't naturally eat much fruit at all.
• Calcium: dust food with plain calcium powder several times a week, and keep a cuttlebone in the enclosure so your tortoise can self-regulate its intake.

Water & Soaking

Always keep a shallow water dish available. Soaking your tortoise in shallow lukewarm water two to three times a week — especially hatchlings — helps with hydration and often prompts them to defecate in the soak rather than the enclosure, which keeps things cleaner.

How Much & How Often

• Juveniles: feed daily to support steady growth.
• Adults: most do fine on 3–4 feeds a week.
• A useful portion guide: roughly the size of your tortoise's own shell, once a day if feeding daily.

Housing & Hibernation in New Zealand

Most tortoise species kept here come from climates warmer and drier than New Zealand's, which means an indoor setup, an outdoor setup, or both are usually needed depending on the season — very few New Zealand properties can house a tortoise outdoors year-round without support.

Outdoor Enclosure (Spring–Autumn)

• Choose a dry, well-drained, sunny spot with some shade available — damp, poorly drained ground is a major contributor to respiratory and shell infections.
• Fence it securely: tortoises are surprisingly determined diggers and some species climb better than expected.
• Predator-proof against dogs and cats, and only include plants you've confirmed are non-toxic.
• Provide a shallow water dish and a sheltered hide to escape wind and rain.

Indoor Setup (Winter & Hatchlings)

An open-top wooden "tortoise table" generally works better than a closed glass vivarium — tortoises need airflow, and a closed glass tank tends to trap humidity that their shells don't do well in. Set up:

• A basking area at one end reaching 35–40°C, using the same ceramic or infrared heating approach covered in our Lighting & Heating Guide
• An 8.0–10.0 rated UVB tube, mounted no more than 300mm from the basking spot
• A cooler end so your tortoise can move away from the heat and thermo-regulate
• Dry substrate your tortoise can dig into a little, plus a hide

Hibernation — Only for Mediterranean Species

Hermann's and Spur-Thighed Tortoises hibernate naturally in the wild, and most keepers consider it healthy for these species when done correctly. New Zealand's winters, however, are unpredictable and often not cold enough for a safe, stable natural hibernation outdoors — several New Zealand tortoise keepers report their animals trying to dig in and hibernate in enclosures that aren't actually cold or stable enough to do it safely. For this reason, most experienced New Zealand keepers use a controlled fridge method rather than hibernating outdoors:

• A dedicated fridge (never one used for food), held at a stable 5°C
• A ventilated box inside with dry substrate for the tortoise to settle into
• Weekly visual checks and a monthly weigh-in — a healthy tortoise should lose no more than around 1% of its body weight per month during hibernation

All other species on this page — Box Turtles (species-dependent), Malayan Box Turtles, Yellow-Headed Tortoises, Gopher Tortoises and Leopard Tortoises — do not hibernate and need to be kept warm year-round, typically meaning an indoor heated setup through a New Zealand winter.

Tortoise Health

Pyramiding

Cause: Too much protein and too-fast growth in juveniles, often combined with low humidity or insufficient UVB. Scutes grow upward into pyramid shapes instead of flat.
Prevention: A correct high-fibre, low-protein diet, proper UVB exposure, and adequate humidity for hatchlings and juveniles. Pyramiding that's already happened is permanent — prevention is the only real fix.

Metabolic Bone Disease

Cause: Calcium deficiency or inadequate UVB exposure, preventing proper calcium metabolism.
Signs: soft or deformed shell, weakness, difficulty moving.
Prevention: the same calcium and UVB routine covered in Feeding and Housing above.

Respiratory Infection ("Runny Nose Syndrome")

Cause: Cold, damp housing conditions.
Signs: nasal discharge, wheezing, swollen or puffy eyes, lethargy.
What to do: This needs a vet promptly — it's also one of the key checks before allowing any tortoise to hibernate, since a respiratory infection going into hibernation can be fatal.

Shell Rot

Cause: Persistently damp substrate, or bacterial/fungal infection following a shell injury.
What to do: Improve drainage and ventilation immediately and see a vet — shell rot can spread and requires proper treatment, not just a drier enclosure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Considering a tortoise, or need help with your current setup? Get in touch — we're New Zealand's reptile specialists.