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- I am holding in my hand a newly hatched,
critically endangered African pancake tortoise.
The pancake tortoise is one
of the world's most bizarre turtle and tortoise species.
And while there's really no surprise,
it's because there's flat as a pancake.
So in this video we're gonna show you guys
how we keep them here at Garden State Tortoise,
both indoors and out.
We're gonna go over the story
behind our adult pancake tortoises
and introduce to you this brand new special baby
on Mother's Day.
So this female pancake tortoise of ours
is I guess celebrating her first ever Mother's Day
because this is her first ever baby.
This little neonate right here was just an egg from December
all the way until just about two days ago
when it started to pip or hatch.
And what it did was it used
this little caruncle, or egg tooth.
If you look very closely you can see that.
That's what this tortoise used to break out
of its eggshell like all turtles and tortoises do.
And within the next 7 to 14 days, it will fall off.
You'll also notice on its plastron, the bottom shell,
it has a little bit of a belly button there.
That's where the yolk sack was attached
and was fully absorbed.
So unlike us humans that have those umbilical cords,
baby turtles and tortoises show the remnants
of that yolk sack in that belly button.
Just like the egg tooth disappearing
in a few more days to a week,
that belly button will be completely shut,
and this tortoise is ready for a life all on its own.
You might also notice some differences right
off the bat here between baby and mom.
Baby's got a little bit of an arc to its shell,
but when he or she is fully grown
it will be as flat as its beautiful mother right here.
And that's one of the most unique things
about this incredible tortoise species is
that flat pliable shell.
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As you can see, these tortoises are very, very flat.
No guess as to where that name comes from, pancake tortoise.
And even though I'm the one holding
these three females together like this,
believe it or not, this is what they do in nature together.
They use their softer bodies to jam themselves
into really tight rock crevices,
both horizontally and vertically,
and they are capable of inflating their lungs
which then expands their pliable shell,
so that they're nearly impossible to be removed
from those rock crevices, like by a predator.
They also do this to me when I try to collect
these tortoises in the fall to bring them inside
because they cannot hibernate out here.
It's almost impossible to pull them out
of the rock shelves that I've made for them.
So I have to actually remove the rocks
so that I can safely account for everybody and get them in
before the really cold temperatures take hold.
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Pancake tortoises are naturally found in Kenya,
Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
They're found on Rocky hillsides with rocky outcrops
that are referred to as kopjes or kopjes.
They prefer drier habitats.
But of course they appreciate rain just like any species.
And they'll actually drink from the rocks even here
in Southern New Jersey when the rains come down.
As I said, these tortoises are capable
of literally jamming themselves into tight rock crevices
and inflating their bodies
so that they can't be pulled out easily.
When you look at the bottom shell, the plastron here,
you can see these tortoises are actually soft or pliable.
And to be perfectly honest,
the carapace is not all as rock hard as most turtle
and tortoise species are either.
In some cases, they're a little bit comparable
to the famous soft shell turtles, only they aren't leathery.
They do exhibit those classic carapace scutes
like other tortoises do and many turtles,
but there really is something truly remarkable
about the morphology and anatomy of these animals.
It's just not what we're used to seeing.
And I can't tell you how many times
that Casey and I take people around our property
and we introduce them to these animals.
They are just blown away by them
because you just don't expect this.
Look at it, it's flat!
It is meant to cram into the tightest crevices
it possibly can, but it has no problem getting out.
Depending on where you live is gonna be
the determining factor as to how long
you can house pancake tortoises outside.
Here in South Jersey we can move them out safely,
usually between April or May,
depending on the spring we get.
And then they're safe out here
all the way through Halloween.
So basically right around Halloween is when they have
to come back in.
We built this pen in 2020, right after we got our group
from the Turtle Survival Alliance.
These animals were imported into the country
in terrible conditions and a wonderful veterinarian out
in California cleaned these animals up.
And once they were finally in good shape,
the TSA placed them with us
and they actually are in Disney Animal Kingdom's studbook
for the species.
Right now we're underneath the main feature
of this enclosure.
And I don't know if you guys can notice,
but there's actually three, four pancake tortoises right
in front of me just hanging out here
because it's getting late in the day.
This is what I did when I created this pen
to make that Rocky outcrop.
So think of Pride Rock in "The Lion King"
where the lions are hanging out.
Well, guess what?
The pancake tortoise are what's hanging out underneath them
in all those really tight spots
that you would never think you could find a tortoise in.
That's something that is very crucial
to properly housing pancake tortoises, inside or out.
They really appreciate rocks, logs,
and other areas where they can jam themselves in
and feel totally safe.
Creating this main rocky feature
for them is really not all that hard.
It's just about being as creative as possible
and trying to get in the mind of a tortoise.
So you have to think of not just what it looks like
on the top or the sides,
but can the tortoises safely move in and out of it?
So basically I got flagstone and fieldstone
and even some river rock,
and just kind of made, I don't know, a maze for them.
I can't really actually say exactly what comes
to mind when I do these things.
I obviously always study an animal's native habitat
to get ideas,
but then it comes down to you being the artist.
You have really got to think of depth and perception
and building things up.
So this is a high point for the animals.
It helps to keep them out of any flooding,
but to be honest with you,
the entire pen doesn't flood
because instead of digging this pen into the ground,
we built it up.
Now pancake tortoises are not really diggers
but you should still make sure that there's really no way
for them to get out.
So they can't climb out
because there's a nice lip around this entire thing.
And they also can't dig out
because we built it up with this beautiful sandy substrate.
You can get these substrates from quarries
or different areas that sell things for gardens
and all kinds of lawn use.
But basically this is a well drained sandy soil
that is easy for the animals to dig in should they nest.
On top of that I went ahead and built it up
with this rocky area.
There's also sporadic rocky areas.
Plenty of driftwood and logs and appropriate plant life.
We use a lot of the same plants
in all of our tortoise enclosures, like spirea,
sedums, which are succulents,
dwarf maiden and fountain grasses,
rose bushes, like knockout rose, other small grasses.
And of course, one really important thing
that we let take over all of our pens is weed growth,
and that's because the tortoise actually eat it
and it's good for them.
So this pen is well seasoned now since we built it in 2020
and right here is some of that beneficial weed growth
that I was talking about coming in.
It's coming in right in between the rock crevices
which is awesome because it helps set the stage
for a very naturalistic environment.
This is dandelion and there's some ribwort right here
and there's even some sedum coming up
right here that's spread.
As time goes on the pens mature
and they just look better and better.
And the tortoises can naturally eat this stuff.
Like I said, it's good for them.
Some other plants you can add lavender,
sage, and even rosemary.
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So this is another important part
of this outdoor pancake tortoise enclosure.
You just saw us use one
of these in Otis's outdoor enclosure in last week's video.
This is a cedar based cold frame.
The wood is made out of cedar,
so there's no danger there to the animals.
It's not a substrate thing.
It's eight feet by two feet.
I cut a hole right here as an entrance.
Polycarbonate panels that can be vented on really hot days,
so there's no danger of the tortoises getting overheated.
And if you look inside
I've created another little ecosystem for them.
This is for unfavorable days.
The tortoises can thermoregulate.
When it's too hot they'll head out into the open enclosure
and enjoy life out there.
But on days that are cloudy
or it might get a little bit cool
they can come right back in here.
But this is not good enough for winter.
In winter they have to come in.
So if we just move some of these stones outta the way
you can see there's a tortoise right there underneath it.
And when I put my hand on him, folks, he is very warm.
Today, the high temperature is only 65 degrees.
It's very early May.
But this tortoise was able to thermoregulate himself
and he is very toasty to the touch.
Now we're inside because we're not gonna house
this new baby outside.
We're gonna house it indoors
in more of a closed chamber style enclosure.
If you go back to our Egyptian tortoise enclosure,
that's a great option through the company Toad Ranch
for any kind of indoor tortoise keeping.
A baby like this does not need a very big enclosure.
I would recommend doing something
around three feet by two feet, or maybe a little bit bigger.
So this animal can actually spend
some time growing up in there.
When tortoises are babies,
if you make an enclosure too large
they kind of get lost in it.
And let's remember that these animals,
when they're small they know they're vulnerable.
So they kind of stay put in one small immediate area.
That's where the micro climate comes in handy
because this tortoise is going to need a lot
of humidity while it's young,
just like any baby tortoise would so that it grows smoothly.
Believe it or not, even though pancakes are
as flat as pancakes,
they can and do get disgustingly pyramided
when they are kept too dry.
So what's important for this little one is proper lighting
that UVB lighting through either Arcadia or Zoo Med.
A closed chamber, like a Toad Ranch enclosure,
where the humidity can build up in it.
Proper substrate, there's a wide variety of things to use.
Organic top soil, raised bed soil,
and a mixture of sand with a little bit
of coconut core in there is good.
Remember, as we've talked in a lot of tortoise videos,
sand is safe when it's used properly,
and it is one of the most natural components
of any tortoises substrate in the wild.
Pancakes are absolutely no exception there.
You can get creative in these little indoor enclosures
by making little rock shelves for them.
They will exhibit that crevice behavior
just like the adults do right off the bat.
They need places to hide and they need to stay secure.
A water dish is important as is a proper diet.
And these tortoises should be feeding
on a lot of weeds and flowers primarily.
Outdoors we protect our pancake tortoises the same way
we protect everything on our property.
We use high powered electric fences, dogs,
surveillance systems, cameras,
and a plethora of other things.
But when it comes to winter,
there's no way to keep them safe outdoors
because of those falling temperatures.
So the adults come right back inside,
as I said earlier, right around Halloween.
And we keep them in a 12 foot long enclosure
that's actually kept a little bit more bare,
because in Africa, a lot of these tortoise species go
through a dry season and a more wet season.
So when we bring them inside for the winter,
we're kind of mimicking that dry season.
Although we still make sure that they have water to drink,
the substrate is pretty bare.
There's no plant life.
It's all just rock shelves.
And on one end there's a heated shelter
that the animals can go into.
And then of course, there's basking areas.
And believe it or not, this is the time
of year when our pancake tortoises do the majority
of their nesting behavior.
We have recessed areas in this enclosure
where the females can effortlessly dig down
into a Sandy soil substrate and lay their eggs.
And believe it or not,
they actually only lay one egg at a time typically,
but they will lay several throughout the course of winter.
So let's say they start in December,
one female can lay an egg in December.
Then again in January.
Then again in February.
Then again in March.
Some of our females have been known
to lay up to five eggs each in one season.
On very rare occasions larger females
may lay upwards of two eggs in a single clutch,
and they might keep doing that every six weeks or so.
So it's really interesting the ecology behind these animals
and how they behave both in captivity and in the wild.
So try to replicate that.
You could build a big beautiful
naturalistic outdoor enclosure.
You could do the same indoors.
And you can even get creative for these little tiny gems
while they're babies.
But mimicking that wet and dry season
also helps set the stage for proper breeding behavior
because it's an annual cycle that they follow,
with breeding, courtship, the whole nine,
nesting, and then the baby's hatching.
The egg that this little one came from was deposited
all the way back in December.
And yet here we are in May and he is making his mother
a mom for the very first time.
Pancake tortoises are truly remarkable
and they kind of go against everything we're used to
when we think of tortoises.
They're flat, they're pliable, they're very fast.
Believe it or not,
these things can run incredibly fast to go hide.
And they jam themselves into rock crevices
and then they can inflate themselves
so you can't pull them out.
A Hermann's tortoise can't do that for example.
So they're really just a special animal.
And sadly, they are critically endangered.
For the pet trade these animals have been exported
from their native Africa in insane numbers over the years.
That's all changing now, luckily.
And lucky for the pancake tortoise,
they are pretty well established in captivity,
at least here in the United States.
Little captive bred ones,
like this gem right here, are a big deal.
And they're going to be around to make sure
that their species as a whole is preserved.
There's a lot of conservation efforts going
on for them as well, which is great.
And folks, I gotta be honest,
they really are an excellent choice
for indoor tortoise keeping.
You don't have to house them outdoors the way we do.
In fact, most people don't.
We have found that they really thrive well here
under the South Jersey conditions in the spring,
summer, and fall for the most part.
So don't be afraid to try things,
but make sure you fully understand the climate you live in
and what these tortoises actually need.
They do need very, very intense sun,
but they also need to be able to escape it.
You have to protect them from predators.
And when they're babies like this, that humidity,
and proper keeping indoors is crucial for them
to make sure that they live their lives
to the fullest potential,
and that they grow smoothly and correctly,
and are around for years to come.
So let me know in the comments
if you would like to see more species specific videos,
whether it's about turtles, tortoises,
or some other reptile or amphibian.
And we're looking forward to raising this little guy
and getting him or her added to that precious studbook,
and the future for pancake tortoises as a whole.
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