New member, new tortoise

[Taloan]

Hi!

I am new to tortoises and I thought a forum would be a good place to turn to for info/advice. I just got a female greek tortoise today after doing a lot of reading of care guides. My girl is named Thermopylae and she is about 5 inches long. I was wondering if anyone had any idea of how old she might be. The best the pet store could do was tell me she had been there for "a while" whatever that means. I also wanted to make sure people thought she was a greek tortoise. Any observations, advice, thoughts appreciated! Thanks!

 

[WeEgyptianTort]

It's about 1-3 years old. Are you sure it's a female? If it's a male it might be older because the males are smaller. Anyway, that looks more like a Russian, but it has the colors and texture of a Greek. Maximum size is 8 inches, and males get about 7 inches.

 

[wellington]

That is a Russian. It's probably more like 8-10 years and most likely wild caught. Russians in pet stores usually are older and wild caught.

 

[wellington]

It's about 1-3 years old. Are you sure it's a female? If it's a male it might be older because the males are smaller. Anyway, that looks more like a Russian, but it has the colors and texture of a Greek. Maximum size is 8 inches, and males get about 7 inches.

This Russian is not small enough to be one to three, unless it had a really hard life. All signs of an adult. Most from pet stores are adults and wild caught.

 

[wellington]

Also there is no way of telling an accurate age, only guesses.

 

[WeEgyptianTort]

Really? That's weird. I would assume it would be 1-3 years because by at least 20 years it should be max size. Of course this is a huge assumption by me

 

[Taloan]

So how do you tell the difference between a russian and a greek tortoise? I was told a female, but I just went to actually check for myself using a guide I found online and now I think it is a male. It had a long tail with a slit-shaped cloaca. So it could potentially be close to full size? I'm a little obsessive when it comes to pets I keep (I've kept geckos for a long time) so I'm fascinated with any information I can find out.

 

[WeEgyptianTort]

A Greek's shell usually grows higher towards the middle, while most Russians' shells stay low(er).

 

[Yvonne G]

Really? That's weird. I would assume it would be 1-3 years because by at least 20 years it should be max size. Of course this is a huge assumption by me

That tortoise IS almost maximum size. Very little more growth will occur. Not every female gets as big as 6 or 7 inches, and most males stay right about 5 inches.

Here's a Greek:

and here's a Russian:

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome from Florida

 

[Tom]

So how do you tell the difference between a russian and a greek tortoise? I was told a female, but I just went to actually check for myself using a guide I found online and now I think it is a male. It had a long tail with a slit-shaped cloaca. So it could potentially be close to full size? I'm a little obsessive when it comes to pets I keep (I've kept geckos for a long time) so I'm fascinated with any information I can find out.

Hello and welcome. Pet stores are notorious for dispensing bad info. In your case they got the species and the sex wrong, so what else did they tell you? Are you using a 40 gallon tank with a red bulb, coil bulb and ramped water bowl?

Here is the correct care info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Hope this helps. Please come back with lots of questions.

 

[Taloan]

Here is the enclosure I made (I read up on it before I got the tortoise so I didn't depend on the pet store for info on this.). The substrate is a mix of soil and coconut fiber, I switched out the food bowl for a flat rock after doing some more reading.

 

[enzot91]

I'm not sure if that light is hanging properly, it needs to be facing straight down and not at an angle for it to deliver UV light. Also, I'd be careful with the corners and such - Russian tortoises are well know escape artists and I can see a few potential exits there!

 

[Taloan]

Thanks for the advice. I'll fix the light. The walls are about 2 1/2 x as tall as the tortoises full length. Is the risk that it can climb up the corner or just that it could use objects to climb kind of like steps? (That may seem like a silly question, but I have hermit crabs and they have been known to climb the adhesive that forms the corners of the tank and I have no idea what tortoises are capable of.) I will rearrange the objects with that in mind, but should I also put some sort of roof caps on the corners?

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello

 

[WeEgyptianTort]

That;s a nice enclosure! Is it a tortoise table with a few tweaks or handmade? I love it!

 

[Taloan]

I made it out of an Ikea bookshelf I had planned on throwing out and some spare wood I had around the house. I lined the bottom with linoleum to make it easy to clean.

 

[JoesMum]

Your enclosure does look nice , but I do have a couple of observations

- the lamp needs to hang down vertically so you get the necessary 35C directly under it. It isn't effective at an angle.

- Those lamp clamps are not to be trusted. They have been known to give way and you risk a fire if the lamp falls down. You can buy a lamp-stand to hang the lamp from or construct one yourself.

- I can't see any water dish. A terracotta plant saucer sunk into the substrate so that it's level with the surface makes a good safe water dish that your tort can use easily.

- Food is best served on a piece of flat rock or slate. This is easy for a tort to eat off and also helps with beak maintenance by abrading the beak while your tort eats.

- A piece of cuttlebone (from the bird aisle of your pet store) will also help with beak maintenance and gives extra calcium.

 

[Taloan]

I made some switches after taking the pic. I got a terracotta water dish, got the food rock and a cuttlebone and changed the light so it was hanging. I also moved around some of the decor with climbing in mind. Thanks for all the tips everyone, I'd rather learn from experienced owners advice than from making mistakes.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum @Taloan !

A cute Russian tort, your is. I like his/her enclosure. It's something unique.

Please male sure he/she is warm enough and that there's enough humidity.

Keep asking questions when you need help/whenever in doubt.