{"topic_id":"exotic_husbandry_african_spurred_tortoise","category":"exotic-pet-husbandry","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_husbandry_african_spurred_tortoise\ncategory: exotic-pet-husbandry\ntitle: \"African spurred tortoise husbandry — calcium-fortified fibrous plant diet; large outdoor enclosures\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — reptile / miniature pig husbandry, nutrition, health, toxicology\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/exotic-b3/reptile_husbandry.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-29\ntokens_estimated: 49\nverified: true\nverification: c1_substring\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\n  title: \"African spurred tortoise husbandry — calcium-fortified fibrous plant diet; large outdoor enclosures\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/management-and-husbandry-of-reptiles\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-29\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary reference\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n\n# African spurred tortoise husbandry — calcium-fortified fibrous plant diet; large outdoor enclosures\n\nThe text below is reproduced verbatim from the first-hand source (Merck Veterinary Manual).\n\n> African spurred tortoises are commonly kept as pets; however, they require calcium-fortified, fibrous plant-based diets and broad-spectrum lighting. They can grow from 5-cm (2-inch) hatchlings to more than 100 kg as adults. Consequently, they need large, preferably outdoor, enclosures, which makes their management challenging, especially in cooler northern latitudes.\n\nSource: `pdf-raw/exotic-b3/reptile_husbandry.txt` (first-hand professional veterinary reference, tag-stripped).\n\n## Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)\n- `African spurred tortoises are commonly kept as pets; however, they require calcium-fortified, fibrous plant-based diets and broad-spectrum lighting. They can grow from 5-cm (2-inch) hatchlings to more than 100 kg as adults. Consequently, they need large, preferably outdoor, enclosures, which makes their management challenging, especially in cooler northern latitudes.`\n","sources":["exotic-pet-husbandry — African spurred tortoise husbandry — calcium-fortified fibrous plant diet; large outdoor enclosures (retrieved 2026-07-29)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-husbandry","title":"African spurred tortoise husbandry — calcium-fortified fibrous plant diet; large outdoor enclosures","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/management-and-husbandry-of-reptiles","retrieved":"2026-07-29","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","verification_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-b3/reptile_husbandry.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","source_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-b3/reptile_husbandry.txt","tokens_estimated":49,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}