Yellow-foot Tortoises are not as colorful as their kin, the Red-footed Tortoise, and they have the reputation of being more delicate. Even so, captive-hatched Yellow-foot Tortoises are among the best pet tortoises. They are very personable and fairly easy to keep.
,br>Though they are typically very shy tortoises, the Yellow-foot Tortoises are fairly large and quite active. Like all tortoises they are also quite long-lived. Provide a good environment with plenty of space to exercise, a variety of shelters to give them a feeling of security, and the proper diet, and they can make wonderful pets.

The primary distinction between these two tortoises is the color of the scales on their front legs, and thus their common names. There is a presence of yellow scales on the front legs of the Yellow-footed Tortoise rather than the red scales of the Red-footed Tortoise.

A few other distinctions of the Yellow-foot Tortoise are a light golden brown background shell color though the background color of the head and limbs are also dark. These tortoises also tend to have a bit wider and flatter overall shape, and they lack the "e;hourglass"e; form of the carapace (upper shell) that is characteristic of the adult male Red-footed Tortoise. Size-wise, they are a bit larger with some specimens reaching 26" - 28" (66 - 71 cm), though most will only reach 14" - 16" (35 - 41 cm). Males tend to have an even flatter carapace than the females, longer and wider tails, and a very concave plastron (bottom shell).