Elongated Tortoise

Elongated or yellow-headed tortoise (Indotestudo elongata) occurs in tropical southeast Asia, being found in parts of northeast India, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Elongated tortoises inhabit humid upland forest areas, but they have been observed basking on open ground in India during extreme heat.

As the common names suggest, these up to 1 foot-long tortoises have elongated somewhat narrow carapaces and yellow heads. The carapaces are a yellowish-brown color, often with black “smudges” on each scute. Males have a plastral concavity and much longer tails than the females. The only similar tortoise, the Travencore tortoise, I. forsteni, lacks the nuchal scute found in I. elongata and is rarely seen in the United States.

My long-lasting interest in the elongated tortoise began back in 1977 when I bought my original pair from a local pet store over 15 years ago. During the last nine years they have produced 45 offspring. In the last two years, young from the first clutch of eggs from the original pair have themselves produced offspring.

Small rocks, usually smooth river gravel, are present in their droppings so regularly that I consider this a normal occurrence. Almost all of my elongateds seem to eat them. Bathing water is available at all times, but although they often take long drinks of water, they do not wallow very often. They seem to tolerate the dry air very well, and their skin certainly doesn’t appear to get as dry as that of the red-footed tortoises.