Hello everyone, i am new in this forum and it looks amazing.I have a tortoise that i believe to be greek for 4-5 years now and i am concerned about the way it "walks" it never stands up just crawls.I also dont know if its a boy or a girl nor its a greek one or something else, can you guys help me ?
Is something wrong with my tortoise
- Thread starter Joyam
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- Jul 16, 2014
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- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Does he have access to UVB light? What is his diet?
Welcome to TFO!!
Can you post pictures of your set up? What are the temps inside your enclosure and how do you measure them? Does your tort ever get outside?
Can you post pictures of your set up? What are the temps inside your enclosure and how do you measure them? Does your tort ever get outside?@ZEROPILOT I dont really know what you mean by UVB light but i take him out to the sun everyday ( although it likes to go in shady places ).His diet is another issue i have, i used to feed it lettuce which i think it enjoyed .I also used to feed it this http://www.dbdpet.com/sera-raffy-vital-1000ml/ but now i feed it this http://www.dbdpet.com/sera-raffy-p-1000ml/ because the other one was out of stock and they told me its almost the same or something.
@Careym13 I dont measure the temps because i live in greece and the guy who gave me the baby has it in his yard so i thought that i have it in its natural habitat. I put it on the table with me every day and it roams around end eats
@Careym13 I dont measure the temps because i live in greece and the guy who gave me the baby has it in his yard so i thought that i have it in its natural habitat. I put it on the table with me every day and it roams around end eats
Hello,and Welcome
. Answers to the questions asked will help a lot. Give us a pic of enclosure too. Also any other info about his care. You will want to start a hydrotherapy on your tort. He should be lifting himskef not crawling. I rescued a leopard that was kept in way too small an enclosure and couldn't walk either. I gave it a proper enclosure, with lots of room to roam, proper substrate, diet and hydrotherapy. Within no time, month, but less the a year, he was walking like a tort should. Now, moves great, fast and loves to roam.
. Answers to the questions asked will help a lot. Give us a pic of enclosure too. Also any other info about his care. You will want to start a hydrotherapy on your tort. He should be lifting himskef not crawling. I rescued a leopard that was kept in way too small an enclosure and couldn't walk either. I gave it a proper enclosure, with lots of room to roam, proper substrate, diet and hydrotherapy. Within no time, month, but less the a year, he was walking like a tort should. Now, moves great, fast and loves to roam.
Your diet needs lots of I proving. You need to find a lot more tort friendly items to feed. As big a variety as you can. Water available 24/7 and Uv comes from the sun or you can also by bulbs. He needs proper size enclosure, large with proper substrate. Not on a slippery table or in the house, but outside, or his own proper enclosure.
Do you give him any calcium? If not maybe give a small pinch 2 times a week on his better diet.
The hydroperathy is putting your tort in a large tub with warm water and letting him swim for about 15-20 minutes a day. If he can't swim, hold him up with a couple fingers but so he has to move his legs. Do this every day even two times a day and eventually (hopefully) he will gain strenght to pick himself up and walk. It will be months, but it's a good therapy and a cheap,therapy and gives you time to get closer and spend time with your tort
Do you give him any calcium? If not maybe give a small pinch 2 times a week on his better diet.
The hydroperathy is putting your tort in a large tub with warm water and letting him swim for about 15-20 minutes a day. If he can't swim, hold him up with a couple fingers but so he has to move his legs. Do this every day even two times a day and eventually (hopefully) he will gain strenght to pick himself up and walk. It will be months, but it's a good therapy and a cheap,therapy and gives you time to get closer and spend time with your tort
Thanks for your advice.How big should the enclosure be ? I am afraid to put it on my yard since its accessible from stray cats etc.As about the calcium where can i get it and how will i feed it to my tortoise. It used to eat stuff like apples but since i got the raffy it is kind of obsessed with it and doesnt like eating anything else .
Do you know if its indeed a greek turtle and how can i identify its gender ?
also i thank everyone for your warm welcoming and immediate answers
Do you know if its indeed a greek turtle and how can i identify its gender ?
also i thank everyone for your warm welcoming and immediate answers
Hi, and welcome to the Forum!
The testudo species don't really stand up tall when they walk, but I think some of your baby's walking problems stem from his diet. Your tortoise should be eating green, growing food. If you don't have edibles in your yard, you can buy dark, leafy greens from the store. Any of the salad-type greens that you can buy for yourself are also good for your tortoise. But don't feed too much lettuce. Stick with other dark, leafy greens. Then every so often sprinkle a bit of calcium powder over the greens - but not too much, as they don't like the taste of it.
The testudo species don't really stand up tall when they walk, but I think some of your baby's walking problems stem from his diet. Your tortoise should be eating green, growing food. If you don't have edibles in your yard, you can buy dark, leafy greens from the store. Any of the salad-type greens that you can buy for yourself are also good for your tortoise. But don't feed too much lettuce. Stick with other dark, leafy greens. Then every so often sprinkle a bit of calcium powder over the greens - but not too much, as they don't like the taste of it.
Looks more like Testudo hermanni to me, but I'm really no good at i.d.ing the testudo species. Tomato leaves are edible, but I wouldn't feed too much. Look for dandelion, fillarre, prickly lettuce, sow thistle, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, squash leaves, etc.
I am really surprised to see you say that tomato leaves are edible, as I was under the impression that very few vertebrates could safely eat nightshade foliage. The Tortoise Table and California Turtle & Tortoise Trust classify the leaves/vines as toxic as well (although I know that they both can be overly conservative in some cases). Are tortoises known to be able to safely eat tomato leaves?
I know. For a very long time everyone was told tomato plants were toxic except for the fruit. We now have learned the leaves aren't toxic after all. From Garden Betty:
"Glycoalkaloids (contained in tomato leaves) are also poorly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract of mammals, and will pass through quickly to the urine or feces. In people who are sensitive to these compounds, stomach irritation may occur but they would have to ingest an unrealistic amount of green tomatoes or tomato leaves to experience ill effects.
So what’s the deal? Are tomato leaves toxic or not? According to this food safety study (which compared the potential toxicity of glycoalkaloids found in tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants), tomatine is a relatively benign glycoalkaloid. It resulted in no significant changes to liver weight or body weight when fed to mice, and is not considered adverse to human health.
What’s most surprising is the discovery of tomatine as a cancer inhibitor. The glycoalkaloid has been found to effectively kill or suppress the growth of human breast, colon, liver, and stomach cancer cells. This study suggests that consumers could benefit from eating high-tomatine green tomatoes, and that there may be a “need” to develop high-tomatine red tomatoes as well (for the treatment of cancer and/or the study of tomatine as an anti-carcinogenic and anti-viral agent).
True, if you tried to Google recipes for tomato leaves, you aren’t likely to find any. Former Chez Panisse chef Paul Bertolli is known to infuse his tomato sauces with tomato leaves, but aside from that, not many people have stepped up and ‘fessed up to their culinary use.
But — and a big but — that does not mean they aren’t edible. Until I started cooking from my garden, I never knew all the possibilities of the plants I was growing. An adventurous appetite has led me to discover how delicious broccoli greens are (you won’t find many recipes for those either), as well as carrot tops, nasturtium pods, radish pods, radish greens, and pea shoots (which are actually an Asian grocery staple). The fact that tomato leaves aren’t part of the mainstream American diet doesn’t make them toxic by any means. People just don’t know what to do with them… yet. (Hopefully this will change in my generation.)"
"Glycoalkaloids (contained in tomato leaves) are also poorly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract of mammals, and will pass through quickly to the urine or feces. In people who are sensitive to these compounds, stomach irritation may occur but they would have to ingest an unrealistic amount of green tomatoes or tomato leaves to experience ill effects.
So what’s the deal? Are tomato leaves toxic or not? According to this food safety study (which compared the potential toxicity of glycoalkaloids found in tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants), tomatine is a relatively benign glycoalkaloid. It resulted in no significant changes to liver weight or body weight when fed to mice, and is not considered adverse to human health.
What’s most surprising is the discovery of tomatine as a cancer inhibitor. The glycoalkaloid has been found to effectively kill or suppress the growth of human breast, colon, liver, and stomach cancer cells. This study suggests that consumers could benefit from eating high-tomatine green tomatoes, and that there may be a “need” to develop high-tomatine red tomatoes as well (for the treatment of cancer and/or the study of tomatine as an anti-carcinogenic and anti-viral agent).
True, if you tried to Google recipes for tomato leaves, you aren’t likely to find any. Former Chez Panisse chef Paul Bertolli is known to infuse his tomato sauces with tomato leaves, but aside from that, not many people have stepped up and ‘fessed up to their culinary use.
But — and a big but — that does not mean they aren’t edible. Until I started cooking from my garden, I never knew all the possibilities of the plants I was growing. An adventurous appetite has led me to discover how delicious broccoli greens are (you won’t find many recipes for those either), as well as carrot tops, nasturtium pods, radish pods, radish greens, and pea shoots (which are actually an Asian grocery staple). The fact that tomato leaves aren’t part of the mainstream American diet doesn’t make them toxic by any means. People just don’t know what to do with them… yet. (Hopefully this will change in my generation.)"
Ah, thank you so much Yvonne, that is new information for me. They've always *smelled* edible to me, but I honestly didn't think enough to question the toxicity issue (and I'm a chemist - doh!).
