‹ Atlas ‹ All husbandry guides
Check your setup against this sheet
I keep one 102 plants usable with this species

Setup

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
24–29°Cool side
32–35°Warm side
20–23°Night

Day: a real gradient, 32–35°C warm against 24–29°C cool, so the animal chooses. Night: 20–23°C.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm 32-35 °C / cool 24-29 °C / night 20-23 °C

Humidity

70–90%Target RH

The sheet states70-90 % en interieur

UVB

T5 6%UVI 2–3

The sheet statesArcadia T5 HO 6% / Zoo Med T5 HO Reptisun 5.0 at mesh: 11-14″ / 28-35cm, no mesh: 14-17″ / 35-43cm; Arcadia T5 HO 12% / Zoo Med T5 HO ReptiSun 10.0 at mesh: 17-22″ /43-55cm, no mesh: 21-25″ / 53-62cm; UVI between 2.0 – 3.0 in the basking area

Enclosure
the minimum recommended enclosure size for one red-footed tortoise looks like: Length > 8-12′ / 2.4-3.7m, Width > 4-6′ / 1.2-1.8m, Height > 2-3′ / 0.6-0.9m
Diet
a red-footed tortoise's diet should be around 90% plant matter and 10% animal matter. Once they near adulthood, this should be reduced to every other day to prevent obesity

Traceable. The figures above appear in the page we cite, which we opened on 10 Aug 2026. That means you can check them, not that we have confirmed they are right. reptifiles.com

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Red-footed tortoise is Diurnal, so what it is doing changes with the light. The sheet states a night temperature, and the rail follows it.

Enclosure and conditions

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

What it needs

A heat sourcebecause Temperature — warm 32-35 °C / cool 24-29 °C / night 20-23 °C
A thermostat to regulate itbecause Temperature — warm 32-35 °C / cool 24-29 °C / night 20-23 °C
A thermometerbecause Temperature — warm 32-35 °C / cool 24-29 °C / night 20-23 °C
A way to check the night figurebecause Temperature — warm 32-35 °C / cool 24-29 °C / night 20-23 °C
A hygrometerbecause Humidity — 70-90 % en interieur
UVB 6-6% (T5), stated as requiredbecause UVB — Arcadia T5 HO 6% / Zoo Med T5 HO Reptisun 5.0 at mesh: 11-14″ / 28-35cm, no mesh: 14-17″ / 35-43cm; Arcadia T5 HO 12% / Zoo Med T5 HO ReptiSun 10.0 at mesh: 17-22″ /43-55cm, no mesh: 21-25″ / 53-62cm; UVI between 2.0 - 3.0 in the basking area
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « the minimum recommended enclosure size for one red-footed tortoise looks like: L »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Daily life

Behaviour and handling

HandlingTolerant, personable
HousingCan co-house with space
NoteVocal: makes clucking sounds

Health

When to see a vet

Humid forest tortoise — needs higher humidity than Sulcata/Leopard. Moderate fruit is fine.

The species

Identity

Family / Order
Testudinidae / Testudines
Origin
Temperament
Bold, social for a tortoise

Reproduction

Sexing
Male: longer tail, 'waisted' shell, concave plastron
Breeding
Egg-layer; several clutches

Good to know

  • One of few tortoises that eats fruit & carrion in the wild: and 'talks'.

CITES II is a global listing and holds in every country. National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Questions & sources

Common questions

Is it a good tortoise for Thailand?

One of the better matches, because it comes from humid tropical forest, so our climate suits it far better than it suits desert species.

What does it eat?

Greens as the base, a real share of fruit, and a little animal protein now and then, which is unusual for a tortoise.

How big does it get?

Around 30 to 40 cm, occasionally larger, so a small garden pen is manageable.

Can I keep two?

Females together are usually fine, but two males will ram and bite each other. Give them room and two separate feeding spots.

Back to the Atlas My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/chelonoidis-carbonarius

Others in this group

Russian TortoiseTestudo horsfieldiiHermann's tortoiseTestudo hermanniGreek TortoiseTestudo graecaEgyptian TortoiseTestudo kleinmanniLeopard tortoiseStigmochelys pardalisAfrican spurred tortoise (Sulcata)Centrochelys sulcataYellow-footed TortoiseChelonoidis denticulatusElongated tortoiseIndotestudo elongata

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 420 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.