Speedy, My Marginata

rAstha · 18-08-2009, 02:49 PM

Hi!
Im brand new to these forums, but I thought I should show you our family pet Speedy, whitch is an old marginata male. We have had him for over ten years, but he was an adult when we got him from the Zoo. They did not know how old he was, but we have always thought he is around 40. As you see from the pictures, he is about 28 cm across the shell (underneath) and wheigs 3 kg.

I am no expert at tortoises, and it would be nice if anyone knew how old he could be, as this has puzzeled us as long as we have had him in our family. And how old do these Marginatas really become? I have always joked about passing him on to my children, allthough i was only eight when we got him

I'll post more pictures later today, have got to eat :P But as you see his beak is too long, he eats normally, but i will take him to a vet next thuresday so they can do something about it!

purplelynn · 18-08-2009, 03:10 PM

Impressive tort . Can't wait to see more pictures

rAstha · 18-08-2009, 03:23 PM

As you can see he has a distinct backplate witch angels a bit up (the backmost of the large plates), is this common for Marginatas?

finchy · 18-08-2009, 03:38 PM

He looks like a great tort.
The vet will probably give his beak a trim. For the future you could put his food on slate or a paving slab, which should help keep it under control.

It is very hard\impossible to tell how old a tort is just by looking at it.

kreacher · 18-08-2009, 03:44 PM

wow he's lovely

**Bindi** · 18-08-2009, 04:06 PM

Speedy is an awesome looking tort!

daveg · 18-08-2009, 04:14 PM

Wooow check him out.... He's a beast

Don't seem to often seen mature torts on here.. It's usually tiddlers!!!

rAstha · 18-08-2009, 04:31 PM

Well, I am really proud of him, allthough he is a bit of a villain

.
He usually runs away (finds weak spots in our outdoor closure) and attacks the nighbours garden beds
(he loves to demolish pretty flowers

). Because of his size we have a pretty large outdoor closure for him,
the lenght of our house, with natural barriers like rocks, and some walls. But if he gets hot enough, and dont want to stay in the shadow,
he starts going around and around the closure for hours, looking for ways to get out, climbing like a monkey.

Sometimes i think he misses a girlfriend, but at the zoo they told us that the only reason they gave him to us,
and not some other smaller tort, was that he was very unsocial. He used to climb on top of the small torts and push them around and steal their food

But for me he is the most loveable tort there is, no matter if he sometimes looks at my bare toes with hungry eyes.

morph · 18-08-2009, 04:48 PM

What a monster tort - how absolutely gorgeous!!

Paulg1 · 18-08-2009, 10:46 PM

he's gorgeous. Old timer there.

18-08-2009, 02:49 PM	#1
rAstha Junior Member Egg Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 6	Speedy, My Marginata Hi! Im brand new to these forums, but I thought I should show you our family pet Speedy, whitch is an old marginata male. We have had him for over ten years, but he was an adult when we got him from the Zoo. They did not know how old he was, but we have always thought he is around 40. As you see from the pictures, he is about 28 cm across the shell (underneath) and wheigs 3 kg. I am no expert at tortoises, and it would be nice if anyone knew how old he could be, as this has puzzeled us as long as we have had him in our family. And how old do these Marginatas really become? I have always joked about passing him on to my children, allthough i was only eight when we got him I'll post more pictures later today, have got to eat :P But as you see his beak is too long, he eats normally, but i will take him to a vet next thuresday so they can do something about it!

18-08-2009, 04:06 PM	#6
Bindi Super Moderator Adult Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hampshire Posts: 11,157	Speedy is an awesome looking tort! __________________

18-08-2009, 04:14 PM	#7
daveg Member Incubating Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 208	Wooow check him out.... He's a beast Don't seem to often seen mature torts on here.. It's usually tiddlers!!! __________________ My Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/downhillisdead/sets/

18-08-2009, 10:46 PM	#10
Paulg1 Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 2,116	he's gorgeous. Old timer there. __________________ 0.1.0 G. sulcata/Larry 0.1.0 G. pardalis babcocki/Leo 1.0.0 G. pardalis pardalis/Tino "Stop the world, I want to get off!"

18-08-2009, 03:10 PM	#2
purplelynn Senior Member Sub Adult Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Surrey Posts: 1,403	Impressive tort . Can't wait to see more pictures

18-08-2009, 03:23 PM	#3
rAstha Junior Member Egg Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 6	As you can see he has a distinct backplate witch angels a bit up (the backmost of the large plates), is this common for Marginatas?

18-08-2009, 03:38 PM	#4
finchy Member Incubating Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 138	He looks like a great tort. The vet will probably give his beak a trim. For the future you could put his food on slate or a paving slab, which should help keep it under control. It is very hard\impossible to tell how old a tort is just by looking at it.

18-08-2009, 03:44 PM	#5
kreacher Senior Member Sub Adult Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,718	wow he's lovely

18-08-2009, 04:31 PM	#8
rAstha Junior Member Egg Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 6	Well, I am really proud of him, allthough he is a bit of a villain . He usually runs away (finds weak spots in our outdoor closure) and attacks the nighbours garden beds (he loves to demolish pretty flowers ). Because of his size we have a pretty large outdoor closure for him, the lenght of our house, with natural barriers like rocks, and some walls. But if he gets hot enough, and dont want to stay in the shadow, he starts going around and around the closure for hours, looking for ways to get out, climbing like a monkey. Sometimes i think he misses a girlfriend, but at the zoo they told us that the only reason they gave him to us, and not some other smaller tort, was that he was very unsocial. He used to climb on top of the small torts and push them around and steal their food But for me he is the most loveable tort there is, no matter if he sometimes looks at my bare toes with hungry eyes.

18-08-2009, 04:48 PM	#9
morph Junior Member Egg Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 20	What a monster tort - how absolutely gorgeous!!

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