Yellow Footed Tortoise

The Yellow-foot tortoise is found in South America over a wide range from Bolivia through Brazil.  This species is a true “rainforest” species and as such its care requirements are more restrictive than those for the wider ranging / multi-habitat Red-foot. 

Yellow-foot tortoises are more subdued in their beauty as compared with a number of the tortoises of the genus Geochelone. Nevertheless they are a sought after addition in many collections the world over.  A holdover perhaps from the days when many species of giant tortoises roamed both islands and the mainland,  they are known as the third largest of the extant  (living) mainland tortoises.  This designation is somewhat misleading as there are some that never grow beyond 14 inches (34 cm) as adults.  While there are adult Geochelone denticulata that are over 22 inches (55 cm)  and even  28 inches  (70 cm) in length,  these individuals  are fairly rare with most reaching only 16  - 20 inches (40 cm – 50 cm). 

This information was taken from www.chelonia.org  This site also helps to tell the difference between a yellow footed and red footed tortoise.

At Cub Creek Science Camp we have a couple of Yellow Footed Tortoise as part of the variety of reptiles that we have for our Science Camp campers to learn about and experience.  Like all tortoises the Yellow Footed Tortoise is terrestrial.  Our Tortoises, Tonka and Diesel, live outside in the pentagon area during the summer and move inside during the winter. They will not ever get as big as the African Spurred Tortoises that we have but they are a nice size Tortoise to handle.  The unique oval shape makes them interesting to look at and easy to pick up.

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