Tortoise

[kalimai]

I am thinking of getting a (or 2 tortoise) to live in my garden but i have space to keep indoors during cold weather. I also have 2 dogs. Can anyone advise me of the right sort of tortoise to look at and would having to share a garden with dogs be acceptable. (i realise of course initial safety but I am thinking will barking or being nosed by dogs be stressful for tortoise.) any advice would be appreciated

[maddragon29]

Most advice is keep tortoise and dogs seperate unless you're confident your dogs aren't going to harm the tortoise. and even then they must never be left alone together, but only allowed near one another under strict supervision.
What space have you got inside and out? this will probably help determine what species would be better. I'd probably recommend horsefields as they seem like pretty sturdy wee things, and dont grow too large.
but i'm sure someone with more torty experiance will be along soon to help. i just have the one wee leopard tort and no experiance with others really.

[donstapley]

leopards & hermanns are both good for beginners. i would also never a tort alone with dogs, ive seen this go wrong too many times! outside would not be to bad as you would need some sort of enclosure to keep them protected from birds, foxes, etc. they would need somewhere to hide and also some sort of heat source for them to thermoregulate.
Inside is easy also give them a 4 x 2FT enclosure, heat lamps, UV, waterbowl, suitable substrate, hides.
all the while they are in enclosures the dogs should not be an issue, it would be that if they were free roaming that you would need to keep a constant eye on them IMO.
oh yeah and the barking etc should not be a problem as they interpret sound differently to us.....i can hoover round mine with no bother!!
if you need anymore help feel free to contact me
regards