The gopher tortoise is an obligate burrower with many adaptations for digging. The limbs are very stout and strong, with wide flat claws. The front legs are protected with small scales. The shell of the tortoise (and all turtles) is an outgrowth of the skeleton and is their major means of protection. When the tortoise pulls his head completely into the shell and covers the openings with his limbs, there are very few predators, other than humans, that can harm him.
Ten Facts about Gopher Tortoise
- 25 cm (10 in.) long and 4 kg (9 lb.) in weight.
- For wild tortoises range from 40 - 60 years, while tortoises in captivity can live more than 100 years.
- Their range extends from southeastern Louisiana to southeastern South Carolina and throughout all 67 counties in Florida.
- It takes a tortoise ten to 20 years to reach reproductive maturity.
- Females lay an average of six eggs, but can lay from three to 14 eggs, depending on their body size.
- They lay one clutch of eggs per year and it takes about 100 days for the eggs to incubate.
- If the temperature is above 30° C (85° F), the hatchling tortoises will be females. Temperatures below 30° C produce males.
- Gopher tortoises are primarily herbivorous, examples of their favorite foods are gopher apple and saw palmetto berries. They will eat the pads, fruits, and flowers of prickly pear cactus.
- Gopher tortoises use a variety of upland habitats that are common in central Florida, including scrub, pine flat woods, shallow freshwater wetlands called swales.
- They can dig burrow about 15 feet long & 6 feet deep.
