African Pancake Tortoise - Georgia Aquarium

The thin, flat and flexible shell of the African pancake tortoise allows it to swiftly flee danger and hide in rocky crevices and savanna scrub. Its yellow and brown coloration blends in with the vegetation and dry grasses that make up its diet.

Size
7 inches (17.8 cm)
Diet
Vegetation and dry grasses
Range
Tanzania and Kenya
Habitat
Crevices on rocky hillsides

Physical Characteristics

Coloration is brown and yellow.
Shell is thin, flat and flexible.
Shell bones have many openings, which allow the tortoise to be lighter and more agile to escape predators.
Instead of retreating into its shell, the African pancake tortoise will flee danger. Its flexible shell allows it to hide in narrow crevices.
Carapace length to 7 inches (17.8 cm).

Animal Fact
The African tortoise’s shell hinges at the joints that make up the bony plates of its shell. This allows these tortoises to climb better than others.

Diet / Feeding

Diet typically consists of vegetation and dry grasses.

Range / Habitat

Occurs in northern and eastern Tanzania and southern Kenya and may also occur in Zimbabwe.
Found in crevices on rocky hillsides and in scrub and savanna.

Reproduction & Growth

The mating season is between January and February.
Nesting appears to occur in July and August in their natural environment, but in human care, tortoises produce clutches year-round.
Females dig holes in the soil and typically lay one egg, but they can lay several eggs over the course of one season.
Incubation period of 4-6 months in human care.