Tortoises Facts for Kids – 5 Terrific Facts about Tortoises

Tortoises are known for being really slow! But what else do you know about tortoises? Let’s learn five terrific tortoises facts for kids.

Tortoises Facts for Kids Fact Number 1: Turtles

All tortoises are turtles but turtles aren’t tortoises… Tortoises are a type of turtle that have evolved to live on land, the best way to tell the difference is to look at their shell and feet, water turtles will have flippers and their shells are flatter. Tortoises have elephant shaped feet and big curved shells.

Tortoises Facts for Kids Fact Number 2: Creep

Can you guess what a group of tortoises is called? They are called a creep! That’s not very nice to call them, but you very rarely see a group of tortoises because they like to be alone, so there’s not too many creeps about!

Tortoises Facts for Kids Fact Number 3: Tortoise’s Shell

Tortoises are like trees! Have you heard about being able to tell the age of a tree based on the rings in its cross section? Well the same is true for tortoises, you can age a tortoise by counting the growth rings around the scutes on the tortoise’s shell.

Tortoises Facts for Kids Fact Number 4: Tortoises Can Hold Their Breath

They can hold their breath for a really long time, but it’s not for swimming. Tortoises can’t swim but when they need to go into their shell for a while they need to be able to hold their breath so that they don’t run out of air in there!

Tortoises Facts for Kids Fact Number 5: Harriet The Tortoise

Did you know that Charles Darwin and Steve Irwin had the same pet tortoise? Charles Darwin found Harriet the Tortoise in 1835 and took her back to England, she eventually ended up in Australia zoo and was cared for by Steve Irwin until 2006, She was 176 years old when she died!

We hope you enjoyed learning more things about tortoises as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these animals are, you can move on to learn about other animals like: Reptiles, Turtles, Rabbits and Hamsters.

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