Tortudo Graeca - but what sort?
 

Hi - I'm a new tortoise owner, of an 18-month old male(?) spur thighed tortudo graeca.

He lives inside 24/7 in a hacked wooden Ikea toy box at the moment, which I'm pretty chuffed with. However, the ultimate plan is to move him to permanent outdoor accommodation - big earth and rock run, heated kennel.

I'm trying to figure out the best conditions for him and understand that tortudo graeca doesn't mean Greek Tortoise as I believed it did. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good online identification resource so I can try and narrow down his country of origin and therefore natural habitat? Or does it not matter - should I just treat him as mediterranean?

I'm pretty clueless, as you can tell...

Testudo graeca are North African spur thighs, and there are many subspecies right across North Africa. If you have a cites certificate it won’t be species specific, but if you can post a picture on here, some one will probably be able to identify him. To post a picture , you have to first post on a host site, then cut and past to here. If he is a North African graeca, they are not as hardy as, European Mediterranean spurs, and you can be more limited as to how much time they can spend out side in our British summers, so you will need inside accommodation too, for when the summer is cold and wet.

Hi - thanks for your reply! Can you see these pics?!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/clouddrive/...pZWHTf40LYeSIE

https://www.amazon.co.uk/clouddrive/...l5gMWWMmHOZkqB

https://www.amazon.co.uk/clouddrive/...W1HVZGmPxEhYHD


His cite certificate says his country of origin is Turkey - I do not know if this is because he's a sub-species that's native to Turkey, or if he was bred there, but it concurs with my amateur desk-based photo research that he's Testudo (graeca) ibera. That's what his shell looks like to me, anyway.

But I have NO CLUE so it would be great if you could help. If you can see his nursery home in the last pic, it's big enough for now but not a longterm solution so I want to start planning for the next step.

(I know those pellets are frowned upon here but he was raised on them and seems to love them - he buries himself right into them... However, at cage clean I'll topsoil the lot)

While I'm waiting for my other post to be approved, I'll spill some more concerns...

I'm worried that my little guy didn't have an ideal start. He seems a little pyramided already to me. I bought some tortoise pellets from the specialist reptile centre I bought him from - then quickly learned that they can't be that much of a specialist. I took them out on day one. At the centre, he was fed a diet of chopped cabbage, chopped carrot and some kind of lettuce (not iceberg). Here, he's eating Florette Crispy salad bags - I've tried him on all sorts of weeds, but he's just having none of them (will v occasionally eat a dandelion leaf, but not always, and he won't eat any flowers), and I read that the Crispy bags aren't bad, so... I've tried putting plants in with him I know he can eat, I've tried herbs I know they can eat. Nope. I've bought some weed seeds to sew and try next, as I don't have easy access to a vast range of 'clean' weeds. I will find something to tempt his palate!

In the meantime, my logic was the crispy salad (dusted with calcium) is better than the cabbagey carrot stuff he's used to - yes?!

I've added cuttlefish since I set his house up and he munches on that like a trooper. Some days he has loads, others he doesn't touch it, so I'm assuming he's getting what he needs from that and the powder, and it keeps his beak down.

I've also had his claws trimmed since the photos were taken and my next mission is to get some sandpaper in there to try and wear them down naturally.

I have an unused salad planter in the garden that I've been taking him outside to explore in this super hot weather - he just digs and goes to sleep. I don't know if this is because it's too hot, too cold or he just really likes the very deep substrate (though he fully buries himself in his indoor box too).

I absolutely adore him but what I'm learning is, the more you learn, the more you realise there IS to learn.

Hi, yes he does definitely look like a Turkish Ibera, so fairly hardy and should do well in our British summers, he has a tiny bit of raised scutes, but it’s really nothing to worry about. This is what I would suggest, in the indoor enclosure you have there, get rid of the pellets and sand, and replace them with sterilised top soil from your garden centre, this is because, as a very young tortoise, he needs a certain amount of humidity ( not much) about 65/70%. Top soil will keep the hold of moisture better than any other substrate, so keep it damp, not wet. Give him a hide too, and the humidity will keep under this, so when he digs down, he will create a humid micro climate, and this will help to keep him well hydrated. Also give him regular baths, and it goes without saying , available water.

Now that summer is here, get him outside as much as possible, he will thrive better in natural sunlight. You are right about crispy florette , it’s better than cabbage or carrots or any other veg, Mediterranean tortoises are leaf and flower eaters, keep trying with the the weeds, it can take time if they are used to one type of food. And you don’t need to clip his claws.

Thank you so much! I’m pleased the florette is ok. Gave him half that and half weeds this morning. Came home and the half weeds are shrivelled to nothing, untouched. I’ll persevere... he might think he’s stubborn but so am I!

I bath him every other day. He doesn’t seem to like it much but ho hum.

I’m cleaning his house out this weekend as it’s been a month now and my son isn’t always hawk eyed on removing wilted leaves - I’ll replenish with topsoil. He does have a hide - a bark one, at the opposite end to his lamp. He sleeps in there at night, buried. I love that they just know what to do.

I’m glad he looks Ibera to you as I really want him outside! There’s currently an old rotting shed in the place I have earmarked for his run - the skip comes tomorrow though! His next level pad will be 6ft x 4ft with a heated kennel attached. And I like those little sun rooms with clear plastic roofs I’ve seen lots of you have.

Basically - you know when you were at school and they cut the grass on the school field and you’d make houses out of it? I’m doing that, at 39. Amazing! Hills and log divides and a heather bush or two and a weed corner for him to walk on and ignore...

Thanks for your help x

all sounds good and photos are lovely. Nice set up - try and make the surround flat surface otherwise he can get a grip and likely fall backwards. And yes ditch the pellets - they are not for tortoises - he will grow and may eat one and it will explode inside him killing him . Try and think natural all the time - what would they do in the wild and it won't be buying pellets / wood chips to live on or eat (though some tort owners do have edible pellets) of course. be lovely to see some photos when he goes out - you will be very nervous but just watch his habits - they will test the perimeters, make sure he cant see out and plenty to walk round and over and under, CB

Good luck with creating his outdoor enclosure, it’s lots of fun, as Claire said, think natural, they like plants they can hide under like lavender, rosemary, hebe, grasses, and different textures to walk on, like smaller slate pieces, larger slate. Large pieces of bark ( not small ones) , a cold frame is essential , for a warming place and a dry wooden box.

I have kept ibera for over 36 yrs and they are a great species to keep.
I live in the SE and mine are out 24/7 from the end of April beginning of May depending on the weather and threats of frost. And mine have a greenhouse (only adults now as I have stopped breeding them) where they can come and go as they please. They also hibernate in there.
For my smaller ones when I had them, I used unheated coldframes on bricks. Which are great to use, as they can retain quite a lot of heat on colder days.
Enjoy!!
Oh and dont remove wilted leaves, as dry weeds are good fibre for them:0)